Books for Summer

Are you ready for the summer? Got your three Bs— Beaches, Barbeque, and Books?

We are well stocked in the third category, so I recommend The Sword & Sorcery Anthology and After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall. But as Levar Burton says, you don't have to take my word for it.

Babes in Nerdland calls Sword & Sorcery an "awesome collection, very highly recommended" and After the Fall made the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's 99 Books for Summer list, under 10 Books to Stretch Your Imagination. 

So if you don't feel like reading Forty-Eight Hues of Off-White or Whatever (or if you finished it and need something good to read next), take Tachyon along on your summer vacation!

SF in SF Presents: Men in Black III

Big news, Bay Area! Variety Children's Charity is now able to screen digital 3D movies, and to celebrate, SF in SF will host a special screening of Men in Black III on Tuesday, May 29th.

You must RSVP for this event.

The event is free, but a $5-10 donation at the door is suggested for Variety Children's Charity. You won't get that kind of deal at the box office! Plus there will be a raffle, and as always FREE POPCORN! SF in SF: We make this look good.

Sorry folks - we have a full house for the 9PM showing!  If you would like to see the film at 6:30, please email Rina Weisman at rina@varietync.org.

Please note the date and time, as they are different from our usual movie nights:

SF in SF movie night: Men in Black III
Tuesday, May 29th, Doors and cash bar open at 8:00PM
Film starts at 6:30, 9:00PM
All proceeds from donations and bar go to Variety Children's Charity

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance next to Citibank on Market St.
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

The Uncertain Places is a Mythopoeic Award Finalist!

The 2012 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award finalists have just been announced, and look what's on the list in the Adult Fiction category—Why, its Lisa Goldstein's The Uncertain Places! The nominees are:

Lisa Goldstein, The Uncertain Places (Tachyon)
Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus (Doubleday)
Richard Parks, The Heavenly Fox (PS Publishing)
Catherynne M. Valente, Deathless (Tor)
Jo Walton, Among Others (Tor)

Read the complete list of categories and nominees here 

We are thrilled to see The Uncertain Places recognized alongside such great fiction! The award winners will be announced at Mythcon 43, on August 3-6, 2012, in Berkeley, California. Check out The Mythopoeic Society homepage for more information.

Starred Publishers Weekly review for The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

 
Publishers Weekly loves The Sword and Sorcery Anthology, check it out!

**Starred Review* "Hartwell and Weisman have selected some of the best short-form work in the genre...This is an unbeatable selection from classic to modern, and each story brings its A game." 

 Read the full review here!

SF in SF Presents: THREE authors, ONE night!

Tired of not getting enough authors for your money? There's got to be a better way!

Well, have I got a deal for you: This Saturday, May 19th, the SF in SF reading series will host Ysabeau Wilce AND Marie Brennan AND Erin Hoffman for the low low price of a $5-$10 suggested donation to Variety Children's Charity!

Ysabeau Wilce is the award-winning author of the Flora Segunda series, including Flora's Dare: How a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Expand Her Vocabulary, Confront a Bouncing Boy Terror, and Try to Save Califa from a Shaky Doom (Despite Being Confined to Her Room).

Marie Brennan, who also writes as Bryn Neuenschwander, is the author of Doppelganger (2006; reissued as Warrior in 2008), and Warrior and Witch (2006; reissued as Witch in 2008). Her latest book, A Natural History of Dragons, is due in 2013 from Tor.

Erin Hoffman is a video game designer as well as the author of the Chaos Knight series. Her latest book is Lance of Earth and Sky, which came out in April 2012, and the final book in the series, Shield of Sea and Space comes out in 2013. She his a head designer at the social gaming company Loot Drop. Read her blog for more on Erin's writing and game designs.

All of these authors will read from their work, followed by a Q&A session.

When:
Saturday, May 19th
Doors and cash bar (proceeds to Variety Children's Charity) open at 6:00 PM
Event starts at 7:00 PM

Where:
The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor —
entrance next to Citibank on Market St. 582 Market Street
@ 2nd and Montgomery San Francisco, CA 94104

And remember, BART, don't drive! (seriously)

THIS is how you start a story

Couldn't title this blog post from Michael Swanwick better than he did himself.  Michael's reading an *advance* advance reader copy (for potential blurbers only) of our forthcoming Patricia McKillip collection, Wonders of the Invisible World, out this October.  He says of the title story:

"That is a terrific opening.  It's solid as an oak plank and as simple as a Shaker broom.  You could rap your knuckles on it.  It evokes all the senses.  It has wit and rhythm.  It sets the scene beautifully.  Most importantly, it gets you right into the story."

In case you're wondering, here's the beginning of "Wonders of the Invisible World," to which he's referring:

I am the angel sent to Cotton Mather.  It took me some time to get his attention.  He lay on the floor with his eyes closed; he prayed fervently, sometimes murmuring, sometimes shouting.  Apparently the household was used to it.  I heard footsteps pass his study door; a woman -- his wife Abigail? -- called to someone:  "If your throat is no better tomorrow, we'll have Phillip pee in a cup for you to gargle."  From the way the house smelled, Phillip didn't bother much with cups.  Cotton Mather smelled of smoke and sweat and wet wool. Winter had come early.  The sky was black, the ground was white, the wind pinched like a witch and whined like a starving dog.  There was no color in the landscape and no mercy. Cotton Mather prayed to see the invisible world.

He wanted an angel.

SF in SF Film Night 5/9 - Battle Royale!

SF in SF - Science Fiction - San Francisco - A Perfect Fit
sponsored by Tachyon Publications - Saving the world, one good book at a time
All proceeds benefit Variety Children's Charity of Northern California
Follow us on twitter at #sfinsfevents - Join our Meetup.com group too, at SFinSFEvents!
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Bringing quality science fiction & fantasy authors & films to the Bay Area since 2005
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 9TH

SF IN SF FILM  NIGHT!

BATTLE ROYALE
(1990; NR, but not recommended for children under 16; Japanese, with English subtitles, 114mins.)

BATTLE ROYALE is one of the most challenging and controversial films ever made... and is The Hunger Games, Lost, and Survivor mixed together, ramped up to a fever pitch.  An instant classic in Japan upon release in 1990, it's the story of how, in the future, as a way of keeping their youth in line, the Japanese government yearly captures a random class of ninth-grade students, drops them on an island, and it's survival of the fittest...helps if you know how to use a cross-bow or semi-automatic rifle.  Given three days to off your classmates and survive...how would you do?  Battle Royale is based on the shockwave novel by Koushun Takami - we'll be raffling off a copy at the movie night!

As they say "BATTLE ROYALE....Because the Hunger Games are for sissies!"

6:00PM - doors and cash bar open
7:00PM - event starts - Raffle for cool schwag, and as always, FREE POPCORN!

$5 - $10 donation at the door - AND cash bar and tips - benefits Variety Children's Charity of Northern California - to date, we've helped raise over $30,000 for the kids in our community!  Learn more here!

The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor — entrance next to Citibank on Market St.
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery
San Francisco, CA 94104

Don’t Drive — Seriously.  Parking sucks in this area.  We are directly adjacent to the Montgomery Street BART/MUNI station! Street parking ($3.50 per hour) is metered M-Sat., til 6PM; otherwise, find a parking garage here.

Email sfinsfevents@gmail.com, or call 415-572-1015 (night of event only)

SF in SF Presents: Battle Royale!

Are you hungry for a movie where teens battle to the death, perhaps in a game-like format? Then this is the other movie for you!

But seriously — Battle Royale is a 1990 Japanese film about a future where the government annually captures a ninth grade class, sequesters them on an island and forces the classmates to fight to the death as an example to keep the youth in line. It was an instant classic, and one of the most controversial films ever made.

Hunger Games fans have probably heard a lot of comparison with this movie — though beyond the general concept, they are very different. But don't worry, there's room in our hearts for more than one teen-death-battle movie, and now's your chance to see Battle Royale on the big screen!

Battle Royale is based on the book by Koushun Takami, so as a special bonus, SF in SF will raffle off a copy during movie night. 

Note that this film is in Japanese with English subtitles. It is not rated, but not recommended for children under 16.

When: Wednesday May 9th
Doors and cash bar open at 6PM, Movie starts at 7PM
All proceeds and donations go to Variety Children's Charity

Where:
The Variety Preview Room Theatre
The Hobart Bldg., 1st Floor
 — entrance next to Citibank on Market St.
582 Market Street @ 2nd and Montgomery San Francisco, CA 94104