Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Dispatches From The Border: July 2014

Events and News from Borderlands Books



Upcoming Events

Juliet Blackwell, A VISION IN VELVET (Signet, Mass Market, $7.99), Kate Carlisle, THE BOOK STOPS HERE (Obsidian, Hardcover, $24.95), and Gigi Pandian, PIRATE VISHNU (Henery Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95) Saturday July 12th at 3:00 pm

MP Johnson, DUNGEONS AND DRAG QUEENS (Eraserhead Press, Trade Paperback, $10.95) Sunday July 13th at 3:00 pm

Richard Lupoff, WRITER VOL. 1 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $18.00 and Hardcover, $32.00), WRITER VOL. 2 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $20.00 and Hardcover, $32.00) & WHAT IF? VOL. 3 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $18.00 and Hardcover, $32.00), Saturday July 19th at 3:00 pm

Michael J. Martinez, THE ENCELADUS CRISIS (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback, $15.99) Saturday July 26th at 3:00 pm

Serena Valentino, THE BEAST WITHIN (Disney Press, Hardcover, $16.99) Saturday July 26th at 5:00 pm

Tobias S. Buckell, HURRICANE FEVER (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Sunday July 27th at 3:00 pm

Joe Abercrombie, HALF A KING (Del Rey, Hardcover, $26.00) Monday July 28th at 7:00 pm

Glen Hirshberg, MOTHERLESS CHILD (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Saturday August 2nd at 3:00 pm

Katharine Kerr, SORCERER'S FEUD (Osel Books, Trade Paperback, $14.50) Saturday August 23rd at 3:00 pm

Kelli Stanley, CITY OF GHOSTS (Minotaur, Hardcover, $25.99) Saturday August 23rd at 5:00 pm

Brent Weeks, THE BROKEN EYE (Orbit, Hardcover, $28.00) Thursday August 28th at 7:00 pm

(for more information check the end of this newsletter)

And stay tuned for more exciting readings and signings, including Dana Fredsti, Ray Garton, and John Scalzi in September!

News

*Overheard in the Store:
"Have you been watching 'Game of Thrones'?" "I gave up 'cause I'm tired of their bullsh*t."
"I feel kinda weird. I feel the way something strangely compelling tastes."
"Teach me the ways of love, squishy poet from beyond the stars."
5 year-old: "Mom, I basically have memories from 50 years ago." Mom: "You weren't born yet." 5 year-old: "THIS me wasn't, but I remember."
"You get a bunch of artists together in a room for a board meeting…Now THAT'S a stupid idea."

Do you remember Borderlands Press' wonderful Little Books series?  They've just announced a second series of Little Books, and according to the announcement, they "are contracting with 15 popular writers to do Little Books Series II, and currently have the following writers on board: David J. Schow, Ed Gorman, Jack Ketchum, Dennis Etchison, Rick Hautala, David Morrell, Ray Garton, Ed Lee, Karl Wagner, Chet Williamson, Laird Barron, Poppy Z. Brite, and Joe Hill. (several more writers to follow). All volumes in the series will be signed and numbered and limited to 500 copies. If you have buyers who want the same number throughout, we can accommodate."  The books retail for $30 each.  Please call us or email us if you'd like to subscribe and purchase all of the volumes of this very collectible and fun series.  More info about the series here: http://borderlandspress.com/coming-soon-series-ii-of-our-little-books/

Would you like to be a Blackguard Captain?  If you'll be attending our event with Brent Weeks on Thursday, August 28th, enter to win some prizes & the chance to hang out with Brent!  Just send an email to office@borderlands-books.com with a paragraph telling us about your favorite character from any of Brent's books by 11:59 pm Pacific Time on Sunday, July 27th.  We'll choose five lucky winners who will each get a tour t-shirt, a copy of THE BLACK PRISM to share with their friends, and an invitation to meet Brent at the store before the event!  We hope you'll enter, and good luck to all.

The finalists for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award have been announced! Congratulations to them all, and especially to Max Gladstone who has had several events at Borderlands.  Winners will be announced at MythCon 45 which will be held August 8-11.
http://www.mythsoc.org/news/mythopoeic-awards-finalists-announced/

We are saddened by the loss of Walter Dean Myers, an amazing mainstream YA author who dipped his toes into genre occasionally.  The first-ever winner of the Michael L. Printz award, five time Coretta Scott King Book Award winner, and three time nominee for the National Book Award, he passed away on July 1st after a brief illness.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/04/arts/walter-dean-myers-childrens-author-dies-at-76.html

Congratulations to SFWA's two new board members: Cat Rambo & Sarah Pinsker!
http://www.sfwa.org/2014/07/new-board-members-sfwa/

Check out these gorgeous Star Wars watercolor prints painted by a French fan. She has more and they are available for purchase on her website.
http://io9.com/an-exclusive-look-at-the-new-fan-art-from-one-of-our-fa-1600187929
http://boutique.blule.fr/collections/star-wars

The David Gemmel Awards announced their winners.  Congratulations to Mark Lawrence, Brian McClellan and Jason Chan!
http://gemmellaward.com/profiles/blogs/gemmell-awards-2014-the-winners

Guy Gavriel Kay was made a member of the Order of Canada.  (Does that means we have to call him Sir Kay now? Best do it just in case.) Congratulations Sir Kay!
http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=15694&lan=eng

Condolences to the family and friends of award-winning author Daniel Keyes who passed away last month. His novel "Flowers for Algernon" is still taught in schools all over the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/daniel-keyes-author-of-the-classic-book-flowers-for-algernon-dies-at-86/2014/06/18/646e30d6-f6f4-11e3-a606-946fd632f9f1_story.html

True or not, this story about a dead girlfriend sending her boyfriend recycled messages and photos through Facebook is truly terrifying.  Don't dive in unless it's light out and you have people near you.
http://jezebel.com/dead-girlfriends-fb-messages-from-beyond-the-grave-will-1599900589

The Sunburst Award for excellence in Canadian Fantastic Literature has announced its shortlist for 2014. Congratulations to Nalo Hopkinson (who had a recent event at Borderlands,) and to all the other nominees.
http://www.sunburstaward.org/content/2014-shortlists

Fans of Clive Barker and creepy fantastic horror rejoice! On the eve of its 25th anniversary and release on Blu-ray, "Nightbreed" is slated to become a TV series as well.
http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=41439

Sadly Angry Robot has closed down both their YA imprint, Strange Chemistry, and their crime/mystery imprint, Exhibit A.  All titles from those imprints are discontinued and no titles will be forthcoming.  So if you've been delaying trying out Martha Wells' fantastic Emilie series or Gwenda Bond's riveting The Woken Gods, now is the time to pick them up before the print run is gone.
http://angryrobotbooks.com/2014/06/news-about-strange-chemistry-and-exhibit-a/

Nour Saleh is an artist who wears a hijab and so she's taken to tumblr to share her drawings of herself as iconic heros complete with headscarves. Check out these gorgeous interpretations!
http://io9.com/hijab-wearing-lady-draws-herself-as-different-marvel-su-1599805081

Locus announces the winners for their 2014 awards. Winners include Neil Gaiman, Ann Leckie and recent past Borderlands guests James S.A. Corey and Catherynne M. Valente. Congratulations to all the winners. For the complete list of winners:
http://www.locusmag.com/News/2014/06/2014-locus-awards-winners-2/

Longtime editor and author Frank M. Robinson has passed away. Known for writing speeches for Harvey Milk and as a pulp magazine collector and scholar, Robinson was recently a recipient of a special SFWA award at the Nebulas.  We join with the rest of the community in mourning the passing of this well-loved San Francisco local.
http://www.sfgate.com/lgbt/article/Frank-M-Robinson-writer-of-Harvey-Milk-Hope-5599194.php

The on/off switch for consciousness might have just been discovered by accident deep in the brain. A team placing deep brain electrodes in a woman's brain stimulated the claustrum and she immediate lost consciousness. Check out the full article at New Scientist:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22329762.700#.U7bh6LFBkoB

The 2014 inductees into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame have been announced: Frank Frazetta, Hayao Miyazaki, Leigh Brackett, Olaf Stapledon and Stanley Kubrick.
http://www.empmuseum.org/at-the-museum/museum-features/science-fiction-and-fantasy-hall-of-fame.aspx

An 80s movie for 2014: check out the hilarious review of Wolfcop, a classic for the ages to be sure...and I'm already getting my keys to head to the movie theater.
http://io9.com/wolfcop-is-the-best-80s-movie-ever-made-in-2014-1600249694

From The Office

How Sharing Becomes Exclusionary
by Alan Beatts

A common idea in science fiction is the post-scarcity society; one in which energy is so cheap and manufacturing involves so little effort that, for all intents, physical property and goods are no longer in limited supply and, as a result, have little or no cost (and, by extension, no value).  Voyage To Yesteryear by James Hogan is one of my favorites but you'll find examples in the works of Ken MacLeod, Iain M. Banks, Robert Heinlein (as is often the case, ahead of his time), and many other authors.  A feature of many of these societies is a real sharing economy in which, once a person no longer needs an item, it is passed along to another or just abandoned in a public place for the next person who needs it.  Another feature of some of these societies is a sort of curious disdain for people who want to collect possessions regardless of their need for them.

People often comment that we are living in the world of science fiction.  Day-to-day features of our lives were elements of SF only a decade ago (smart phones, self-driving cars, and facial recognition software are all fine examples).  I suppose that the current rise in the "sharing economy" as exemplified by companies like Uber and Airbnb could be mistaken as the early days of the science fictional post-scarcity shared property society.  But it's not.  In fact, it's more like a horrible dystopian novel by someone like Richard Morgan, Philip K. Dick or even George Orwell.

When I was much younger I was a relatively enthusiastic Libertarian . . . or at least something like one.  I never really agreed with the Libertarian party but I did think that the government should regulate businesses less and generally stay out of people's personal lives as much as possible.  I also thought that a fee-for-service model was better than tax-funded public services and that privatization wasn't such a bad idea at all.  In retrospect I think I was pretty dumb or, at the very least, simple-minded.  Despite the change in mindset that I've experienced over the ensuing decades, I still feel a little uncomfortable bashing the modern sharing economy so vigorously.  But . . . .

There are two big, obvious problems with companies like Uber and Airbnb, but there's also a much less obvious problem that might be even bigger.  The first problem is that no one is actually "sharing" anything.  What happening is that people are "selling" stuff, be it rides in their cars or nights in their house.  And, while the people doing the selling are making some money, the companies assisting in those sales are making boat-loads of money.  Let me put it this way -- I "share" a truck with someone.  We both use it when we need it and make arrangements with each-other about when we'll use it.  We each cover half the costs of the insurance, repairs, and gas.  However, we pay our own parking tickets.  But neither of us makes any money off the deal, despite most of the purchase cost of the truck having been paid by one of us.  That is actual sharing.

What the current "sharing economy" is about is private parties selling the use of a thing (or their own time in the case of companies like TaskRabbit) to other private parties with the assistance of a third party (which is a large for-profit company, or at least one with dreams of being large).  No-one is actually "sharing" a goddam thing and everyone involved is in it for the money -- the people selling want to make some money, the companies running things want to make a lot of money, and, in most cases, the people buying want to save some money.

It's not that I'm against people wanting to make (and save) money.  After all, I run a small business.  But I do think it's a problem when you call something and present something as "sharing" when it's not.  And it does have an effect.  Recently lawmakers all over the US have tried, with varying levels of success, to pass laws regarding the sharing business model.  It's a tough sell when you're trying to "restrict" the "sharing economy".  It makes one sound like the mean kid at preschool who hoards their toys, "Billy hasn't learned to share yet," (and the teacher shakes his head sadly).

The other problem is that there isn't much accountability.  It's a strange business that was pioneered by companies like eBay and AbeBooks in the 90s.  The idea is that the big company involved in the transaction isn't _really_ involved.  All that they do is connect the buyer and the seller then take a fee or commission for the transaction.  And often they even "clear" the transaction by collecting the money from the buyer and passing it along to the seller.  But, despite that level of involvement, the "facilitator" is not actually a party to the transaction.  If something goes wrong (i.e. the items sold are damaged, not as described, or aren't even delivered) the facilitator can't really be held responsible.  In all cases that I'm aware of, they just shrug, send some nasty notes, and possibly de-list the seller.  But they're not accountable.

That is possibly a problem when you're buying a rare book or a solid-gold Kama Sutra coffee pot, but it can really be a problem when you're staying in someone's house or being driven around in their car.  And it's also a problem when you're driving someone around _in_ your car or renting out your house.  Recently people driving for Uber have discovered that their insurance doesn't cover them when they're doing commercial driving and neither does Uber's insurance.  So, they get into an accident, get dropped by their insurance, and, unable to pay for the repairs for their car, end up with no car and unable to earn money driving.  And Uber just shrugs and, I'm sure, figures that there are plenty more drivers where that one came from.  Likewise, people renting out their apartments via Airbnb have been evicted by their landlords for violating their lease.  To which Airbnb shrugs and responds that they should have checked their lease and local laws first.

Instead of a real sharing economy, what is actually happening is more like a "sharecropper economy".  Like the landowners after the civil war, companies like Uber and Airbnb have all the advantages in the situation and no shortage of people willing to work for them, despite the lack of any chance of advancement, benefits, or the give-and-take obligations that go with employment.  Meanwhile, they're subject to far less regulation, restrictions and taxation than taxi companies and hotels.  And, obviously, they're willing to fight tooth and nail to avoid any additional regulation or to pay the taxes that they already owe.

And then there's the hidden problem.  The story that is being told about the sharing economy is that it is helping people support themselves.  I constantly hear Airbnb talking about how occasional rentals are helping people pay their mortgages or their rent.  The thing that is being left out of that is the rock-hard fact that, to participate you have to have something that someone else wants.  If you want to drive for Uber X or Lyft you have to have a car.  If you want to rent a room on Airbnb you've got to live somewhere someone else would want to stay (and you can't have six of your family members sharing a two-bedroom apartment).  In short, if you want to be part of the sharing economy, you can't be poor or actually scrabbling to make ends meet.  If your life is like that, you don't have anything the sharing economy wants.

But, if you're poor, you can certainly get a job cleaning rooms in a hotel.  And driving a taxi has been a decent job for recent immigrants to the US for decades.

Now, I ask you, does this sound like a dystopian SF novel?  A society in which the lower-middle class do work (without any job-security or benefits) for the upper and upper-middle class while the lower class are excluded and subsist on shrinking jobs at businesses that are being destroyed by the economics of the "sharecropper economy".

In fact, I think that was a feature of novels by William Gibson, Richard Morgan, and Harry Harrison.  Excellent books all, but none of them very happy.  The great thing (perhaps the greatest thing) about science fiction is that it allows us to look at where we are, extrapolate that into the future, and consider where we might end up.  And, upon considering that, it gives us a chance to change the outcome.  I love to read dark visions of the future, but I sure as hell don't want to live them.

Best Sellers

Borderlands Best-Selling Titles for June, 2014

Hardcovers
1. MY REAL CHILDREN by Jo Walton
2. CIBOLA BURN by James S. A. Corey
3. SKIN GAME by Jim Butcher
4. CALIFORNIA BONES by Greg Van Eekhout
5. THE THREE by Sarah Lotz
6. ROGUES edited by George RR Martin and Gardner Dozois
7. ARTEMIS AWAKENING by Jane Lindskold
8. THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir
9. WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK SO GREAT by Jo Walton
10. AFTERPARTY by Daryl Gregory

Mass Market Paperbacks
1. DANCE WITH DRAGONS by George RR Martin
2. NEPTUNE'S BROOD by Charles Stross
3. WISE MAN'S FEAR by Patrick Rothfuss
4. DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris
5. APOCALYPSE CODEX by Charles Stross
6. DEADSHIFTED by Cassie Alexander
7. HALF-OFF RAGNAROK by Seanan McGuire
8. LONDON FALLING by Paul Cornell
9. IMPULSE by Steven Gould
10. MEMORY OF LIGHT by Brandon Sanderson

Trade Paperbacks
1. OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE by Neil Gaiman
2. HOMELAND by Cory Doctorow
3. ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie
4. RITHMATIST by Brandon Sanderson
5. TIME TRAVELER'S ALMANAC edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer tie with ANNIHILATION by Jeff VanderMeer

Book Club Information

The QSF&F Book Club will meet on Sunday, July 13th, at 5 pm to discuss FURTHER by Chris Roberson.  Please contact the group leader, Christopher Rodriguez, at cobalt555@earthlink.net, for more information.

The Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Club will meet on Sunday, July 20th, at 6 pm to discuss MAKERS by Cory Doctorow.  The book for August is BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH by Alastair Reynolds.  Please contact bookclub@borderlands-books.com for more information.

Upcoming Event Details

Juliet Blackwell, A VISION IN VELVET (Signet, Mass Market, $7.99), Kate Carlisle, THE BOOK STOPS HERE (Obsidian, Hardcover, $24.95), and Gigi Pandian, PIRATE VISHNU (Henery Press, Trade Paperback, $15.95), Saturday July 12th at 3:00 pm - Do you like witches or pirates? (We know you like books!) Why choose when you can enjoy all three at this event?  Juliet Blackwell, Kate Carlisle, and Gigi Pandian return to their respective series, with even more mystery, magic and pirates.  Come celebrate the release of three books!  In A VISION IN VELVET, the sixth in Blackwell's Witchcraft Mystery series, Lily must save someone very important to her, her pot-bellied pig familiar Oscar.  A witch is reaching out from the past, through her velvet cloak, and it's up to Lily to decide whether she is friend or foe and to prepare to fight if she must.  In THE BOOK STOPS HERE, rare-book expert and appraiser Brooklyn Wainwright is thrilled to be appearing on the San Francisco edition of the hit TV show This Old Attic.  Her first subject is a very valuable (and likely very dangerous) first-edition copy of The Secret Garden.  Then the show's host, Randolph, is accosted by an angry man who says the book was purchased on the cheap at his garage sale, and he wants it back, or else.  Can she protect Randolph and herself?  The past also reaches out in PIRATE VISHNU, Pandian's second Jaya Jones mystery.  Historian Jones is stuck not only dealing with her complicated love life but also trying to solve two murders a century apart and decipher a treasure map left by one of her ancestors, the Pirate Vishnu of the title.  If she succeeds she could very well rediscover sacred jewels thought lost forever. . . and if she fails she could end up being the next one to walk the plank.

MP Johnson, DUNGEONS AND DRAG QUEENS (Eraserhead Press, Trade Paperback, $10.95) Sunday July 13th at 3:00 pm -Borderlands is proud and tickled as pink as Ms. LaRuse's wig to welcome MP Johnson for the release for his latest work, DUNGEONS AND DRAG QUEENS. It is quite simply everything you've always wanted in a fantasy novel and didn't know how to ask for. Drag Queens! Wizards! Monsters! Fabulous Wigs! And more! When Sleazella LaRuse, the reigning queen-of-queens of Green Bay, ends up in a completely different world as the intended bride of the serpent god Houmak, she must use all of her guile, skills, and lip-synching prowess to make her way, survive and maybe find love along the way. A delicious mix of irreverent humor, sword-and-sorcery and Drag-attude. Even if you've never been into drag you'll be into this simply because it's a great adventure story that never goes where you expect.

Richard Lupoff, WRITER VOL. 1 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $18.00 and Hardcover, $32.00), WRITER VOL. 2 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $20.00 and Hardcover, $32.00) & WHAT IF? VOL. 3 (Ramble House, Trade Paperback, $18.00 and Hardcover, $32.00), Saturday July 19th at 3:00 pm - Celebrated writer Dick Lupoff  comes to Borderlands for the release of three books. Read behind-the-scenes stories of triumphs and hardships in WRITER VOL. 1 & 2. Memoir, criticism, analysis and anecdotes combine and inform each other and give you a real idea of what it means to be a working writer for 60 years. If you've enjoyed Richard Lupoff's work in the past, dig into these books to see what was happening behind the stories. Lupoff is also presenting the long awaited WHAT IF? VOL. 3, decades after VOL. 1 & 2. Lupoff returns to collect stories that were eligible for the Hugo, and in Lupoff's opinion should have won. Collecting stories from 1966-1973, it includes works by Joanna Russ, Samuel Delany, Gene Wolfe, Ursula LeGuin, and more!

Michael J. Martinez, THE ENCELADUS CRISIS (Night Shade Books, Trade Paperback, $15.99)Saturday July 26th at 3:00 pm - Borderlands is pleased to welcome Michael J. Martinez to celebrate the release of his second novel THE ENCELADUS CRISIS, sequel to THE DAEDALUS INCIDENT. Again dimensions collide, while ships sail to Saturn and people try to discover the reason France invaded Egypt to begin with. Imagine an Age of Sail novel, mixed with a first contact novel with a dash of history, alchemy and a mystery that gets more complex day-by-day. There is something old and familiar for everyone in this novel as well as something new to discover and love.

Serena Valentino, THE BEAST WITHIN (Disney Press, Hardcover, $16.99) Saturday July 26th at 5:00 pm - Valentino returns to the world of Disney to explore the background of another villainous character. Like her previous novel FAIREST OF ALL, which explored the past of the Wicked Queen from Sleeping Beauty, this one tackles a different complex and villainous character, the Beast from Beauty & the Beast. From the publisher's description of the newest novel THE BEAST WITHIN: "A cursed prince sits alone in a secluded castle. Few have seen him, but those who claim they have say his hair is wild and nails are sharp -- like a beast's! But how did this prince, once jovial and beloved by the people, come to be a reclusive and bitter monster? And is it possible that he can ever find true love and break the curse that has been placed upon him?" Valentino's career has spanned comics, novels and hilarious How-To books; she is a writer of great range, wonderful descriptions and dark imagination. Come join us as we celebrate the release of her latest enthralling work.

Tobias S. Buckell, HURRICANE FEVER (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Sunday July 27th at 3:00 pm - Come to Borderlands to celebrate the release of Buckell's newest novel HURRICANE FEVER. A techno-thriller with slow believable ecological collapse and geo-politics that feel ripped right from the current political climate. From the publisher's website "Prudence 'Roo' Jones never thought he’d have a family to look after -- until suddenly he found himself taking care of his orphaned teenage nephew. Roo, a former Caribbean Intelligence operative, spends his downtime on his catamaran dodging the punishing hurricanes that are the new norm in the Caribbean. Roo enjoys the simple calm of his new life -- until an unexpected package from a murdered fellow spy shows up. Suddenly Roo is thrown into the center of the biggest storm of all.  Using his wits -- and some of the more violent tricks of his former trade -- Roo begins to unravel the mystery that got his friend killed. When a polished and cunning woman claiming to be murdered spy’s sister appears, the two find themselves caught up in a global conspiracy with a weapon that could change the face of the world forever." We were delighted when Tobias Buckell toured through Borderlands for his last book ARCTIC RISING.  Join us for what promises to be another great time!

Joe Abercrombie, HALF A KING (Del Rey, Hardcover, $26.00) Monday July 28th at 7:00 pm - Abercrombie's version of a coming of age novel, as only Joe Abercrombie can write it!  Blood, violence, intrigue and revenge all inform this newest novel.  Born with only one good hand, Yarvi is looked down upon by his family and people.  When his father dies, Yarvi is betrayed and sold into slavery: now the throne he never wanted has become his central goal.  Survival is his main focus, but as he gathers a collection of allies and grows into himself, Yarvi will prove that he is more than anyone anticipated -- more skilled, more strong-willed, more vicious, more vengeful, and much more than half a king.  Come to Borderlands and have your imagination set aflame in a totally new world by this author who has made fans of noted authors, cynical readers, and virtually anyone who enjoys a good story.

Glen Hirshberg, MOTHERLESS CHILD (Tor, Hardcover, $24.99) Saturday August 2nd at 3:00 pm - The brilliant Glen Hirshberg is not your typical horror writer, and MOTHERLESS CHILD is about as far as you get from a typical vampire novel.  From the publisher: "It's the thrill of a lifetime when Sophie and Natalie, single mothers living in a trailer park in North Carolina, meet their idol, the mysterious musician known only as 'the Whistler.' Morning finds them covered with dried blood, their clothing shredded and their memories hazy. Things soon become horrifyingly clear: the Whistler is a vampire and Natalie and Sophie are his latest victims. The young women leave their babies with Natalie's mother and hit the road, determined not to give in to their unnatural desires.  Hunger and desire make a powerful couple. So do the Whistler and his Mother, who are searching for Sophie and Natalie with the help of Twitter and the musician's many fans. The violent, emotionally moving showdown between two who should be victims and two who should be monsters will leave readers gasping in fear and delight." MOTHERLESS CHILD was originally published in a very limited edition from Earthling Publications, and sold out almost immediately.  We're happy that this novel can finally get the huge audience it deserves!

Katharine Kerr, SORCERER'S FEUD (Osel Books, Trade Paperback, $14.50) Saturday August 23rd at 3:00 pm - We're happy to welcome Katharine Kerr back to Borderlands!  Her newest novel is called SORCERER'S FEUD, the follow-up to SORCERER'S LUCK.  From the book description: "Art student Maya Cayescu has always had secrets to keep -- her mysterious disease that has turned her into something like a vampire, her father's obsession with ritual magic, her own talents for the occult.  Now, however, she has a secret far more dangerous than those: in self-defense, she killed a man with magic.  Can her lover, the wealthy, powerful runemaster Tor Thorlaksson, protect her from the consequences?  He has dangers of his own to face, because his family's evil past haunts him.  Worst of all, a powerful spirit from the mists of time is hunting Tor down, in hopes of taking him away from Maya and making him her own -- forever."  Don't miss this thrilling new title and the chance to meet Kit Kerr!

Kelli Stanley, CITY OF GHOSTS (Minotaur, Hardcover, $25.99) Saturday August 23rd at 5:00 pm - The third novel following Stanley's stunning CITY OF DRAGONS and CITY OF SECRETS takes us back to Miranda Corbie's ultra-noir San Francisco of 1940.  From the book description: "For the United States, war is on the horizon.  For Miranda Corbie, private investigator and erstwhile escort, there are debts to be paid and memories -- long-suppressed and willfully forgotten -- to be resurrected.  Enter the U.S. State Department and the man who helped Miranda get her PI license.  A man she owes.  A man who asks her to track a chemistry professor here in San Francisco whom he suspects is a spy for the Nazis. Playing along may get Miranda a ticket to Blitz-bombed England and answers about her past. . . if she survives.  Through sordid back alleys and art gallery halls, from drag dress nightclubs to a Nazi costume ball, Miranda's journey into fear takes her on the famed City of San Francisco streamliner and to Reno, Nevada, the Biggest Little City in the World. . . where she finds herself framed for a murder she never anticipated.  Forced to go underground, Miranda soldiers on alone, determined to find the truth about a murder, a Nazi spy, and her own troubling past."

Brent Weeks, THE BROKEN EYE (Orbit, Hardcover, $28.00) Thursday August 28th at 7:00 pm - We are thrilled to welcome Brent Weeks back to Borderlands!  THE BROKEN EYE continues Brent's Lightbringer Series, but it's very difficult to summarize the new book without spoilers.  So let's just say that you must come and meet Brent Weeks, one of the most successful and popular new fantasy writers.  He's also charming, did we mention that?  So don't miss this exciting opportunity to meet Brent and continue to explore the Lightbringer world!  (And, if you'd like to win the chance to be a Blackguard Captain, get cool prizes and hang out with Brent, see the News section above.)

Borderlands event policy - all events are free of charge.  You are welcome to bring copies of an author's books purchased elsewhere to be autographed (but we do appreciate it if you purchase something while at the event).  For most events you are welcome to bring as many books as you wish for autographs.  If you are unable to attend the event we will be happy to have a copy of any of the author's available books signed or inscribed for you.  We can then either hold the book(s) until you can come in to pick them up or we can ship to you.  Just give us a call or drop us an email.  If you live out of town, you can also ship us books from your collection to be signed for a nominal fee.  Call or email for details.


This newsletter is distributed monthly free of charge and may be distributed without charge so long all the following information is included.

Dispatches from the Border
Editor - Na'amen Tilahun
Assistant Editors - Jude Feldman, Alan Beatts
Guest Contributor - Mark W. Tiedemann

All contents unless otherwise noted are the property of Borderlands Books, 866 Valencia St.
San Francisco CA 94110
415 824-8203
http://www.borderlands-books.com
Comments and suggestions should be directed to editor@borderlands-books.com

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