Featuring: Rachel Aaron, Rowan Beaird, Lisa Gray, Victoria Hayward, Elizabeth O’Brien Ingleson, Fiona McFarlane, Claire North, Sarah Pinsker, Richard Price, Sarah Rees Brennan, Colombe Schneck, Geoffrey Wawro
Rachel Aaron
Guest Post: “‘You’re doing what?’ – Why I Decided to Self-Publish My Next Series” by Rachel Aaron
Whenever a New York published author decides to self-publish, there’s always the implicit assumption that Something Happened. Why else, after all, would an author who was presumably happily settled in a nice, big publishing house suddenly strike out on her own, like a child running away from home? Clearly, something terrible must have occurred. Was there a fight? A hot tempered editorial phone call where bridges were burned like kindling? Or perhaps it was the book itself? Maybe the story failed to meet the publisher’s expectations, and now the slighted author is unloading drek onto her fans for a quick buck?
Whatever imagined tragedy you prefer, they all start with the same opening: Something Happened. Something fundamental went horribly wrong in the publishing relationship. There’s simply no other plausible explanation why an author who’d already “made it,” who’d cleared the slush pile, gotten the agent and the book deal and gone on to write multiple series would give it all up and go it alone in self-publishing, the last refuge of the desperate and rejected. Continue reading
Review: FORTUNE’S PAWN by Rachel Bach (Orbit)
The start of a fun SF series from the author of the Eli Monpress novels
Devi Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It’s a combination that’s going to get her killed one day – but not just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
I only heard about this series a few weeks ago. About the same time, I learned that Rachel Bach was a pseudonym for Rachel Aaron, the author of the amusing Eli Monpress fantasy series (also published by Orbit). Knowing that, I had a good idea of what I might find in Fortune’s Pawn, and my interest rose as a result. On the whole, this met my expectations, and while flawed, I think it’s a fun, breezy start to a new sci-fi series that will please a great many readers. Continue reading
Upcoming: FORTUNE’S PAWN, HONOUR’S KNIGHT & HEAVEN’S QUEEN by Rachel Bach (Orbit)
Rachel Bach is the science-fiction pseudonym for Rachel Aaron, the author of the humourous, fun (and therefore recommended) The Legend of Eli Monpress fantasy series – which started with The Spirit Thief. Orbit Books (who publish the Monpress novels) will be releasing Rachel’s Paradox series over the next few months. The first three novels, Fortune’s Pawn, Honour’s Knight, and Heaven’s Queen have already received covers, which are below.
Here is the synopsis for Fortune’s Pawn:
Devi Morris isn’t your average mercenary. She has plans. Big ones. And a ton of ambition. It’s a combination that’s going to get her killed one day – but not just yet.
That is, until she just gets a job on a tiny trade ship with a nasty reputation for surprises. The Glorious Fool isn’t misnamed: it likes to get into trouble, so much so that one year of security work under its captain is equal to five years everywhere else. With odds like that, Devi knows she’s found the perfect way to get the jump on the next part of her Plan. But the Fool doesn’t give up its secrets without a fight, and one year on this ship might be more than even Devi can handle.
Also on CR: Interview with Rachel Aaron
Civilian Reader 