May 11, 2015

Upcoming Events

Marie Brennan, VOYAGE OF THE BASILISK (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99), and Mary Robinette Kowal, OF NOBLE FAMILY (Tor, Hardcover, $26.99) Thursday, May 21st at 7:00 pm

Peter Orullian, TRIAL OF INTENTIONS (Tor, Hardcover, $27.99) Saturday, May 30th at 3:00 pm

Peter Clines, THE FOLD (Crown, Hardcover, $25.00) Thursday, June 4th at 7:00 pm

RESCHEDULED TO JULY 11th - Alyc Helms, THE DRAGONS OF HEAVEN (Angry Robot, Mass Market, $7.99) Saturday, June 6th at 3:00 pm

Paolo Bacigalupi, THE WATER KNIFE (Knopf, Hardcover, $25.95) Sunday, June 7th at 3:00 pm

Rudy Rucker, JOURNALS 1990 - 2014 (Transreal Publications, Trade Paperback, $24.95) Saturday, June 13th at 3:00 pm

Alex Bledsoe, LONG BLACK CURL (Tor, Hardcover, $25.99) Sunday, June 14th at 3:00 pm

In the summer we'll be hosting Wesley Chu, Jo Walton, Helene Wecker, and many, many more great authors, so stay tuned!

April Bestsellers

Hardcovers

1. A CROWN FOR COLD SILVER by Alex Marshall
2. THE GRACE OF KINGS by Ken Liu
3. VOYAGE OF THE BASILISK by Marie Brennan
4. ROLLING IN THE DEEP by Mira Grant
5. THE SKULL THRONE by Peter V. Brett
6. THE THREE-BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu translated by Ken Liu
7. THE BURIED GIANT by Kazuo Ishiguro
8. HALF THE WORLD by Joe Abercrombie
9. PRUDENCE by Gail Carriger
10. TRIGGER WARNING by Neil Gaiman

Mass Market Paperbacks

1. FLEX by Ferrett Steinmetz
2. THE GOBLIN EMPEROR by Katherine Addison
3. WORDS OF RADIANCE by Brandon Sanderson
4. DARK LIGHTNING by John Varley
5. POCKET APOCALYPSE by Seanan McGuire
6. THE LIVES OF TAO by Wesley Chu
7. REPUBLIC OF THIEVES by Scott Lynch
8. THE LONG EARTH by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
9. SKIN GAME by Jim Butcher
10. THE WISE MAN'S FEAR by Patrick Rothfuss

Trade Paperbacks

1. THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS by M.R. Carey
2. ANCILLARY JUSTICE by Ann Leckie
3. THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir
4. FIELD OF FANTASIES: BASEBALL STORIES OF THE STRANGE AND SUPERNATURAL edited by Rick Wilbur
5. OCTAVIA'S BROOD: SCIENCE FICTION STORIES FROM SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS edited by Adrienne Maree Brown and Walidah Imarisha

From The Office

by Alan Beatts

This month marks the first time since January that I feel like the basic operations of the business are back to normal.  Or at least our idea of normal, which I suspect is pretty strange by objective standards.  The store inventory is back up to snuff with the exception of our used paperback section.  With the addition of our newest hire in the cafe, who starts this week, staffing is up to a proper level (i.e. you shouldn't see me doing dishes at closing time).  I feel like the sponsor program is off to a good start and Scott Cox is working with me on that, allowing me to turn my attention to some other things.  Overall, I'm feeling very good about the position that Borderlands is in for 2015 -- almost entirely thanks to our sponsors.

Speaking of which, I'm delighted to announce that as of this week we've hit 800 sponsors for 2015, a full 500 over the number that we needed to remain open.  This is huge, heartwarming and amazing for a variety of reasons, which are all self-evident.

What is not so evident is the major change in my attitude and my plans for the store that have been caused by the unexpected and unbelievable amount of support we've received from our customers and our industry.

May News Roundup

* The Locus Awards have announced their nominees for 2015!  http://www.locusmag.com/News/2015/05/2015-locus-awards-finalists/

* Controversial Nobel Prize-winning German author Gunter Glass, who often made use of the fantastic in his works, has passed away.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/04/13/399303570/gunter-grass-nobel-winning-author-of-the-tin-drum-dies-at-87

* DC continues to expand its television universe.  It will be introducing new heroes (including Hawkgirl!) in the Flash finale before Legends of Tomorrow premieres this fall.  http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/hawkgirl-other-legends-stars-to-appear-in-the-flash-season-finale

* The Romantic Times Book Reviews Awards have been announced, many of which have speculative elements.  Check out all the subcategories of winners here: http://www.rtbookreviews.com/blog/82892/announcing-2014-rt-reviewers-choice-and-career-achievement-awards-winners

* The fanzine Black Gate, and authors Markos Kloos, Annie Bellet, and Edmund R. Schubert have declined their Hugo nominations for various reasons.  See their separate statements here:
https://www.blackgate.com/2015/04/19/black-gate-withdraws-from-hugo-consideration/
http://www.munchkinwrangler.com/2015/04/15/a-statement-on-my-hugo-nomination/
https://overactive.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/hugo-story-withdrawn/
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2015/04/27/in-which-edmund-schubert-withdraws-from-the-hugos/

* The rogue Russian spacecraft that has been hurtling toward Earth for a while has disintegrated safely.  http://gizmodo.com/the-rogue-russian-spacecraft-disintegrated-safely-1703029437/

* The Aurealis Awards which celebrate Australian SF/F/H have announced their winners.  See them here: http://aurealisawards.org/2015/04/12/and-the-winners-are/

* Peggy Carter fans all over the world have a reason to celebrate as "Agent Carter" the TV series has been renewed for a second series.  http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Agent-Carter-Definitely-Coming-Back-Season-2-71760.html

* The identity of K.J. Parker has long been a mystery in the publishing world.  Well, it has finally been revealed that the master of emotionally dark realistic fantasy is also the successful humorous fantasy writer Tom Holt.  Listen to the whole interview reveal here: http://jonathanstrahan.podbean.com/e/episode-230-k-j-parker-and-the-history-of-a-writer/

* In an exciting bit of news, Nick Offerman of "Parks and Rec" fame will be Toastmaster of the Nebulas this year.  http://www.sfwa.org/nebula-awards/nebula-weekend/about-the-toastmaster-nick-offerman/

* io9 gathers a group of diverse opinions on what are some utterly brilliant novels with one fatal flaw.  Check out a wide breadth of answers here: http://io9.com/10-brilliant-novels-that-have-one-fatal-flaw-1702859884

* 10 science fiction authors including Robert Charles Wilson, Genevieve Valentine, Ken Liu and more predict how our world will change in the next ten years.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/06/sci-fi-predictions_n_7102742.html

* "The Tall Grass" novella written by father/son team Stephen King and Joe Hill about a brother and pregnant sister fighting for their lives in a field will be getting a big-screen adaptation.  http://sciencefiction.com/2015/05/07/in-the-tall-grass-stephen-king-son-get-big-screen-treatment/

* Speaking of Stephen King, the 2015 Edgar Awards have been announced, and they include King's novel MR. MERCEDES and the delightful Gillian Flynn short story "What Do You Do", (which is collected in the GRRM and Gardner Dozois edited anthology ROGUES).  See the full list of winners here: http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

* Fans of Cassandra Clare have reason to celebrate since her Shadowhunters series, which failed as a movie, has found second life as an ABC Family TV series, and they have found their Clary.  Do you like who they've chosen?  http://www.mtv.com/news/2153680/shadowhunters-clary-fray-katherine-mcnamara/

* It is a sad day, because after twenty years Ellen Klages has retired as the Tiptree Auction emcee.  Those of us who've seen her know it will be a great loss.  Read her goodbye and reminisce on the good times.  http://blog.wiscon.info/2015/04/ellen-klages-and-the-tiptree-auction/

* Emily St. John Mandel has won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for her novel STATION ELEVEN.  Check out the judges' comments, the shortlist, and more over at the Clarke Award website.  http://www.clarkeaward.com/

* Have six minutes? Then watch the short film "The Red Witch", done by Aron Bothman (with screenplay by Samara Weiss) as a fourth year film project.  A woman tries to learn Mars' story as it's being terraformed and becomes one herself.  http://www.kuriositas.com/2015/05/the-red-witch.html

* The Shirley Jackson Award nominees have been announced.  http://www.shirleyjacksonawards.org/nominees/

* Over at io9.com,  K. Tempest Bradford gathers the best short stories from the past week in her regular io9 Newsstand feature:  http://io9.com/io9-newsstand-the-best-stories-from-the-week-of-may-3-1703080879

* Our friends at Comix Experience < http://www.comixexperience.com > are running into some of the same challenges regarding the San Francisco Minimum Wage that we faced (i.e. the prices for their goods are set by the publisher and they will have a hard time meeting the minimum wage as it goes up).  However, they aren't planning on closing.  Instead they're offering a graphic novel subscription service that, with sufficient support, will allow them to continue operations and meet the increasing minimum wage.  You can find all the information about it here < http://www.graphicnovelclub.com > but the thumbnail sketch is that, for a flat monthly fee of $25, you will receive a copy of the graphic novel of the month.