Sara Skarloff at Washington Post Book World reviews 3 works of science fiction, including Sleight of Hand, calling it "satisfying." Also covered was Lost Gate, a YA novel by Orson Scott Card, and Songs of the Dying Earth, a Jack Vance tribute anthology edited by Gardner Dozois and featuring Kage Baker, Dan Simmons, and Tad Williams.

Library Journal on Sleight of Hand

One more rave for Sleight of Hand (and not the last one):

Multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Beagle opens readers' eyes to wonder with his latest collection of 13 short stories. Each piece bridges the rich intersection of fantasy and fairy tale, reality and possibility, exploring predestination, fate, and the power of love through characters that come to vivid, three-dimensional life within a few short pages. Beagle's lyrical writing is set in a wide range of landscapes both familiar and fresh, with twists on Jack and the Beanstalk, monsters and dragons, a singing enchantress, ghostly photographs, and a modern werewolf tale. "The Bridge Partner" is more noir than fantasy yet fits within the collection quite well, as does the deeply chilling, experimental, and dark "Dirae." "The Woman Who Married the Man in the Moon" features two lost children and an encounter with an early version of Schmendrick the Magician from his classic novel, The Last Unicorn. Each story is introduced with some background about its origin.

Verdict: Short story and fantasy lovers will devour these tasty tidbits that whet the appetite for more.
—Charli Osborne, Oxford P.L., MI

The Third Bear nominated for the Shirley Jackson Award

Today the Shirley Jackson Award revealed its nominees, including The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer. It's interesting and cool that every book in the category of single author collection came out from an independent publisher, as did nominees in many of the other categories. You can read the original story "The Quickening" to get a feel for this amazing collection.

SF in SF:Kick Ass Unicorns vs. The World

Do you live in or have access to San Francisco? Then you've got some great events to check out this week!

Tonight's SF in SF Movie Night is a funny fight-club double-feature: Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

Then on Saturday April 16th, SF in SF presents authors Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn, Tamsin, Sleight of Hand) and Michael Blumlein (The Healer, The Brains of Rats, The Roberts).

Timetable for both events:

Doors and cash bar open at 6:00PM
Events start at 7:00PM
Requested donation: $5-10 at the door, all proceeds go to the Variety Children's Charity

SF in SF takes place at:

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor - entrance between Quiznos and Citibank
582 Market Street between 2nd St. and Montgomery St.
San Francisco, CA 94104

We encourage you to take public transportation; BART and MUNI both go to the Montgomery Street station, right outside of our venue.

And don't forget to check out the SF in SF website for more Science Fiction events around the bay

Prestidigitation observed

Reviewer Keith Brooke at the UK Guardian has just reviewed Sleight of Hand. He called Peter S. Beagle "one of the true greats of fantasy fiction" and is taken with Peter's "magical prose." Here's the full review:

When a writer of Beagle's standing brings out a new book the reviewer's job, after checking to ensure that there has been no slippage in standards, is simply to say: "Here it is..." One of the true greats of fantasy fiction, Beagle is regularly mentioned in the same breath as Ray Bradbury and Ursula Le Guin. It's the former's gently lyrical tales that are perhaps the best comparison, as Beagle's prose in these collected short stories enchants the reader. One of the charms of good fantasy fiction is that it transcends age, as in "The Best Worst Monster", an adult story told as a children's tale wherein a monster tramples the post office flat because the mailman never delivered its master any nice letters. The concluding story, "Vanishing", shows that Beagle still has the power to surprise, a darkly moving piece set on the Berlin wall where the rest of Germany has disappeared, a scenario impossible to visualise until Beagle weaves it into existence with his magical prose. So here it is: a new collection of stories by one of the all-time greats.

Sleight of Hand continues to receive excellent notices, this one from Tor.com:

Sleight of Hand is a must-have collection for fans of Peter Beagle. It coalesces a lot of the stories of the past few years of the much more prolific Beagle that have appeared in widely different venues and so are not always easy for even the most devoted fan to find. This is also a great collection for those who keeping hearing about this author Neil Gaiman described as “the gold standard of fantasy” to begin with as it collects a wide variety of Beagle’s stories, yet is thematically connected and showcases Beagle’s fascination and ability to fantastically represent familial bonds and loyal friendships.

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More reviews after the break. Enjoy your weekend, all.

SF Crowsnest reviews VanderMeer and Van Vogt

Geoff Willmetts at SF Crowsnest has made his way to the "V" section of our Tachyon library. Here are some choice bits of reviews you can find on the site this month:

Future's Past by A. E. Van Vogt

"Van Vogt's niche was to play around with aliens and super-humans in his stories and raise all kinds of issues that could arise from any generation... It's something I learnt my lessons from for my own stories. As the last compilation of Van Vogt's stories before his death [it] should belong in any SF reader’s collection."

Booklife by Jeff VanderMeer

"...'Booklife' is a fascinating practical guide to the world of the modern writer. Published writers who want to understand how to build their readership will find it invaluable. Unpublished writers will learn much that should help them on the route to publication. All writers, no matter what their level of experience or achievement, should find VanderMeer's views on how to balance writing with the rest of your life insightful. This is a book I expect to return to frequently. I can’t recommend it highly enough."

Also, check out the SF Crowsnest interview with Jeff VanderMeer this-a-way!