July News

* Overheard in the Store:
"I've been seeing the saddest couples on BART [recently]...like if Sid & Nancy were American, 18 years old, and didn't know who Sid & Nancy were."

* Attention, Borderlands community!  Do you work for Stripe or Square, or another mobile credit card service?  We're looking for a contract-free mobile POS and credit card solution to try out while we're at WorldCon next month -- if it works well, it will likely become our in-store replacement for our cash register.  Can you assist us, either directly or with advice?  If so, please email Jude at jfeldman@borderlands-books.com.  We need to have a service functional for WorldCon next month, so time is a bit of the essence, and your help is very appreciated!

* Over at Tor.com, Rebecca Roanhorse gives us a list of five Indigenous authors that we should be reading. https://www.tor.com/2018/06/27/five-indigenous-speculative-fiction-authors-you-should-be-reading/

* Speaking of Rebecca Roanhorse, here is an article about her award-winning new novel TRAIL OF LIGHTNING, and bringing Indigenous futurism to urban fantasy. http://www.denofgeek.com/us/books/books/274577/trail-of-lightning-rebecca-roanhorse-brings-indigenous-futurism-to-urban-fantasy

* Amy Erica Smith over at Vox uses the film "Solo" to examine the weak state of The Empire as a whole.  https://www.vox.com/mischiefs-of-faction/2018/6/20/17484886/solo-reveals-galactic-empire-weakness

* In good news, the sales of science fiction and fantasy books has doubled since 2010!  It's simply going unreported because of non-traditional publishing practices. https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2018/06/19/science-fiction-and-fantasy-book-sales-have-doubled-since-2010/#66b537d82edf

* The Verge has an excellent article arguing that you might want to spend this weekend streaming (or rewatching in my case) Battle Royale on Netflix since The First Purge is out this weekend. https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/6/17540508/the-first-purge-streaming-recommendation-battle-royale-netflix

* Harlan Ellison has died at the age of 84, and many are struggling to reconcile a creator important to them with an often violent, volatile, and sexist person.  The New Republic goes in depth and links to others like Doctorow speaking of their internalized conflict.  https://newrepublic.com/article/149489/harlan-ellisons-death-raises-metoo-quandary

* The CEO of Clara Labs talks about how science fiction's portrayal of AI has taught us to fear the wrong things from Artificial Intelligences. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/20/17475410/ai-science-fiction-clara-labs-maran-nelson-interview-converge-podcast

* A list of the best Sci-Fi films of 2018 (so far); we would agree with 5 of the 9, but your mileage might vary.  https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/g21999066/best-sci-fi-movies-2018/

* The future of transportation could look a lot like our favorite science fiction works.  (Although we really don’t want to see the first hyperloop collision.) https://www.inc.com/logan-chierotti/the-future-of-transportation-is-straight-outta-science-fiction.html

* On June 22nd Google celebrated the life of science fiction and fantasy author Octavia Butler by making her their google doodle of the day.  Check out the image and learn (or brush up on) the facts of Butler's incredible legacy. https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/22/17492920/google-doodle-octavia-butler-science-fiction-author-kindred-parable-of-the-sower

* If you are a gamer like many of us, you might be interested in this list of the Best Science Fiction games available for PS4.  Although there are a few on the list that make our eyebrows rise (Technomancer has horrible controls & the less said about D:BH's plot the better,) it also reminded us of a few we've been dying to check out like Torment: Tides of Numenera. http://gameranx.com/features/id/155607/article/the-best-25-science-fiction-video-games-released-for-playstation-4/

* In praise of Gunnerkrigg Court -- one of the best science fiction-fantasy webcomics out there, even after over a decade of production. https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/07/an-appreciation-of-gunnerkrigg-court-one-of-the-be.html

* The great new comic book Skyward, which features a mostly black cast and deals where an Earth where gravity has suddenly become a fraction of what it is, has been optioned for film. We all know being optioned doesn't necessarily mean it will happen, but fingers crossed this one does. http://thesource.com/2018/07/06/sony-pictures-skyward/

* Hungry to know what epic fantasy projects are going to delight or disappoint you next?  Here's a list of ten projects in development, and ten rumored projects to get hyped over. https://screenrant.com/fantasy-projects-currently-development-rumored/

*There has been recent news about award-winning author Marlon James' new series, which is being described as an "African 'Game of Thrones'".  The series will be called Dark Star and the first book is titled BLACK LEOPARD RED WOLF.  The summary, which sounds great, can be read over at EW: http://ew.com/books/2018/06/13/marlon-games-black-leopard-red-wolf-details/

* If you're looking for speculative works with interesting ideas on gender, check out this list of 25 books that The Nerd Daily put together; there are older classics like LeGuin's LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS and newer classics like JY Yang's THE BLACK TIDES OF HEAVEN.  Check out the whole list here: http://www.thenerddaily.com/science-fiction-fantasy-books-gender/

* Looking for a little nostalgia science fiction, fantasy or horror television?  Here's a list of 13 classic shows available on <shudder> Amazon Prime. http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/science-fiction/274353/13-vintage-sci-fi-fantasy-and-horror-shows-on-amazon-prime-video

* Afrofuturism has had a boom through the first half of 2018, and so The Outline asked some afrofuturists where the movement goers from here.  Listen to or read their responses here: https://theoutline.com/post/4978/what-is-the-future-of-afrofuturism?zd=1&zi=mf5rbyd6

* So those of us who saw "Wonder Woman" say that Steve Trevor definitely died and yet Chris Pine (arguably the best Chris) will be back in "Wonder Woman 1984".  How?  Cinema Blend goes over all the current theories. https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2437530/how-wonder-woman-1984-may-bring-steve-trevor-back

* Aliens and weird creatures and spaceships, oh my!  But they're in such pop-py colors you can't help but love them even as they attack humans.  Check out the art of Anton Brzezinski: https://foto.gettyimages.com/archive/arts-and-culture/space-force-anton-brzezinski-science-fiction-art/

* Five fantasy books written by women Newsweek has declared you have to read in 2018.  Add them to your shopping list! http://www.newsweek.com/2018/03/09/female-fantasy-books-written-women-2018-820278.html

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Award News
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* The 2018 John W. Campbell Memorial Award was given to David Walton for his novel THE GENIUS PLAGUE.  More information here: http://file770.com/2018-john-w-campbell-memorial-award/

* The 2018 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award went to Charlie Jane Anders for her short story "Don’t Press Charges and I Won't Sue". http://file770.com/anders-wins-2018-sturgeon-award/

* The winners of the 2018 Locus Awards have also been announced, including such talented authors as Scalzi and Jemisin.  See the full list of winners here: https://locusmag.com/2018/06/2018-locus-awards-winners/

* Speaking of N.K. Jemisin: she has become the first speculative author to be awarded the BoBi (Best of Brooklyn) Award.  Details and photos here: http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/news/photos-n-k-jemisin-announced-as-2018-best-of-brooklyn-bobi-awrdee-more-from-lit-mingle/

* The finalists for the Aurora Awards, celebrating excellence in Canadian writing of the fantastic, have been announced.  You can see the public ballot here: https://prixaurorawards.ca/home/ballot-page-public/

* The 30th Lambda Literary Awards were announced and Locus went ahead and curated all there titles of interest to speculative readers.  https://locusmag.com/2018/06/30th-annual-lambda-awards-winners/
If you’d like to see a full list of winners? https://www.lambdaliterary.org/features/news/06/05/lambda-literary-award/

* The Bi Writers Association have also announced the winners of the Bisexual Book Awards, which have more works of speculative interest. http://www.biwriters.org/finalists-winners/