Subterranean Press has announced that they are taking pre-orders for has posted the tribute anthology The Book of Silverberg edited by Gardner Dozois and William Schafer and featuring a dust jacket illustration by Tomasz Maronski.

Here’s the book description:

For nearly sixty years, Grandmaster Robert Silverberg has been a significant presence in the world of science fiction. As prolific as he is gifted, Silverberg has amassed a body of work unique both in its richness and its variety. That work has influenced generations of other writers and has enriched the lives of untold numbers of devoted readers.

In The Book of Silverberg, editors Gardner Dozois and William Schafer have assembled a tribute anthology fully worthy of the Master himself. The book begins with a pair of affectionate appreciations from Greg Bear and Barry Malzberg, and continues with a series of wonderfully original stories that inhabit and extend some of Silverberg’s most memorable creations. In “In Old Pidruid,” the late Kage Baker turns to the world of Majipoor in a humorous and moving tale of rivalry and reconciliation. Kristine Kathryn Rusch’s “Voyeuristic Tendencies” shows us the world of the 1972 novel Dying Inside from a wholly different perspective. Nancy Kress’s “Eaters” provides a bleak and harrowing conclusion to the classic short story “Sundance.” In “Silverberg, Satan, and Me or Where I Got the Idea for My Silverberg Story for This Anthology,” the incomparable Connie Willis offers what might be the only plausible explanation for the whole Silverberg phenomenon. And elsewhere in the anthology, some of today’s most notable writers—Mike Resnick, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Elizabeth Bear, James Patrick Kelly, and Tobias S. Buckell—ring equally brilliant changes on a number of Silverberg’s signature fictions.

Funny, tragic, provocative, intelligent and always richly imagined, the stories in The Book of Silverberg are all notable accomplishments in themselves. Together, they comprise an exhilarating—and altogether fitting—celebration of one of science fiction’s indisputable masters.

Limited: 250 numbered copies, bound in leather, signed by all contributors but Kage Baker
Trade: Fully cloth bound hardcover edition

Here’s the table of contents…
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So there’s another Godzilla film on the horizon. Here’s the pitch:

An epic rebirth to Toho’s iconic Godzilla, this spectacular adventure, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, pits the world’s most famous monster against malevolent creatures who, bolstered by humanity’s scientific arrogance, threaten our very existence.

I suppose this does look epic, if by “epic” they mean “big budget”. The good news is that Matthew Broderick is nowhere in sight.

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The winners of our giveaway for Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales edited by Paula Guran have been chosen and notified.

Congratulations to:

• Aldo C.
• Benjamin B.
• Brittany W.
• Jenna O.
• Juha S.
• Kathy W.
• Konrad R.
• Lars P.
• Rob B.
• Vera S.

You will be receiving your prizes soon!

Thanks to everyone who entered.

Cortesy of the publisher, SF Signal has 10 sets of eBook copies for E. Catherine Tobler’s Rings of Anubis series (Gold & Glass and Silver & Steam) to give away to 10 lucky SF Signal readers!

Here’s the book synopses for the two books you could win:

Rings of Anubis: Gold & Glass

Paris, 1889: A time when the world looks to a future of revolutionary science and extraordinary machines. Archaeologist Eleanor Folley looks back to Egypt’s ancient mysteries and her mother’s inexplicable, haunting disappearance. Agent Virgil Mallory, a man with ghosts and monsters his own, brings evidence of a crime that leads Eleanor into deepest Egypt again. Dangerous marauders and revelations from beyond the grave are part and parcel of adventures in the desert, but Eleanor doesn’t count on crossing paths with the guardian of the underworld—Anubis himself!

Rings of Anubis: Silver & Steam

In a thrilling adventure that carries them from Paris to Egypt, and from the present to the deep past, Eleanor Folley and Virgil Mallory continue their epic quest to solve the mystery of Anubis’s rings and the disappearance of Eleanor’s mother. Their journey is complicated by the reappearance of Eleanor’s former love, those who wish to use the arcane power of the dark god Anubis for their vile desires, and Mallory’s struggles with demons his own. Uncovering the truth exposes a dangerous game of life, death, and unknowable powers!

Here’s how you can enter for a chance to win:
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John Joseph Adams has posted the table of contents for his upcoming anthology Robot Uprisings, hitting shelves in April 2014:

Here’s the book description:

Humans beware. As the robotic revolution continues to creep into our lives, it brings with it an impending sense of doom. What horrifying scenarios might unfold if our technology were to go awry? From self-aware robotic toys to intelligent machines violently malfunctioning, this anthology brings to life the half-formed questions and fears we all have about the increasing presence of robots in our lives. With contributions from a mix of bestselling, award-winning, and up-and-coming writers, and including a rare story by “the father of artificial intelligence,” Dr. John McCarthy, Robot Uprisings meticulously describes the exhilarating and terrifying near-future in which humans can only survive by being cleverer than the rebellious machines they have created.

Here’s the table of contents…
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Jupter Ascending is shaping up to be the big space opera blockbuster of Summer 2014. It’s the next project of the Wachowski siblings (The Matrix) and stars Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, and Sean Bean.

Jupiter Jones (Mila Kunis) was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning toilets and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Channing Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along – her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos.

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Fiction Bundle is a new bundle service, launched today, that’s billing itself as “Humble Bundle of fiction eBooks”:

Our intention is to provide a service featuring works of fiction which appeal to a wide array of readers, while allowing them to donate a portion of their proceeds to worthy charities in addition to their support of talented authors. Each of our bundles will feature a similar format of six to eight works of fiction by various authors, with a minimum purchase price of $6 USD. Each purchase will split primarily between the authors and a worthy charity or charities based on values of the purchaser’s choice. Our intention is to provide a service featuring not only works of fiction which appeal to a wide array of readers, but to engage consumers of such material to allow them to donate a portion of their proceeds to worthy charities through their purchases. We believe that our bundles will be a great source of exposure for veteran and fledgling authors alike.

Each bundle will contain 6-8 fiction works of certain genre(s), which are DRM-free and available in up to 3 formats (MOBI, ePub and PDF). The bundles will have a minimum cost of $6 (USD) and will feature 2 or more “closed” books which can be “opened” when a purchaser beats our payment threshold – most likely $10 USD.

Their premiere bundle includes the following science fiction eBooks:
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SF Signal has 10 copies (print of eBook) of Nnedi Okorafor’s Kabu Kabu to give away to 10 lucky SF Signal readers!

Here’s the book synopsis:

Kabu kabu-unregistered illegal Nigerian taxis-generally get you where you need to go. Nnedi Okorafor’s Kabu Kabu, however, takes the reader to exciting, fantastic, magical, occasionally dangerous, and always imaginative locations you didn’t know you needed. This debut short story collection by an award-winning author includes notable previously published material, a new novella co-written with New York Times-bestselling author Alan Dean Foster, six additional original stories, and a brief foreword by Whoopi Goldberg.

Here’s how you can enter for a chance to win:
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Novelist Kim Stanley Robinson (Red Mars,2312, and Shaman) debates the merits of utopian thinking with Aeon Magazine’s Marina Benjamin and political theorist Alex Callinicos.

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So…this is a real thing.

I’m not caught up on the Mega Shark universe. Didn’t the Mega Shark get eaten by Snooki or something…?

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In the interest of full disclosure, here are the books we received this week.
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Here’s a short and cute fantasy film by Steven Ray for a lazy Sunday. I think Lynn Viehl came up with a much better name for this film when she titled her post “The Sword of Unimaginable Annoyance”.

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From now through December 29th, you can get The Reckoning, book 2 in Alma Katsu’s epic historical fantasy Taker Trilogy, for only $1.99 at Amazon U.S.

The Reckoning was a finalist in 2012 for RT Book Reviews year-end awards, and a semifinalist at Goodreads. Here’s the description:
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Deadline is reporting that MTV is developing a television adaptation of the Shanarra books by Terry Brooks. Jon Favreau (who directed Iron Man) is set to direct the drama series which will be written by Smallville creators Al Gough and Miles Millar. The first season of the potential series will actually be based on The Elfstones Of Shannara, the second book in the original Shanarra series which now includes 26 novels.
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Sad news…

British author Colin Wilson passed away.

Wilson was perhaps best known to sf fans for The Space Vampires which was later adapted as the film Lifeforce, directed by Tobe Hooper. Wilson also wrote the books The Outsider (1956), The Mind Parasites (1967, a Cthulhu Mythos book), the Spider World series, The Philosopher’s Stone (1969), Science Fiction as Existentialism (1980) and more. Some of his short fiction was collected in The Essential Colin Wilson (1985).

[via Bill Crider's Pop Culture Magazine]

Today’s science lesson is a short dicussion on why we might need asteroid mining.

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Interviews & Profiles

• Nicky Peacock interviews Cassandra Clare. [via Alexandre Maki]
• Speculating Canada interviews Ada Hoffmann.
• Speculate interviews Patrick Rothfuss (Part 1).
• My Bookish Ways interviews J. Lincoln Fenn (& Giveaway).
• Notes from Coode Street interviews Paul McAuley.
• SciFi Chick interviews Gregg Rosenblum.
• Omnivoracious interviews Mike Mignola (Part Two).

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Just in case you didn’t find anything in the roundup of 333 Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Kindle eBook Deals $3.99 or Less, here are several more. Not sure how long they are to be priced this way, with the exception of Earth Abides which is only good for today. Thanks to A.T. Campbell for the heads-up.

Happy reading!

1. Night Trains by Arthur Chrenkoff (Open Road Publishing)
2. Voices of Hope (The Seafort Saga) by David Feintuch (Open Road Media)
3. Aestival Tide (The Winterlong Trilogy) by Elizabeth Hand (Open Road Media)

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I wasn’t expecting much from the “too-soon” remake of The Amazing Spider-Man. That might explina why I thought he film was decent. It might also play into the opinion that this new trailer for the sequel looks way cool.

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While much of the U.S. is experiencing a cold front (thanks, Canada!), the timing seemed right to hear Captain Picard *almost* sing “Let It Snow”….

Beyond the entertainment value of this, I am always amazed at the effort it must take to troll hours of footage to find the right words for the song. Nice job, James Covenant!

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