Tag: Publicity

Some New Reviews

The Sacramento Book Review reviews Federations:

“For this anthology of twenty-four stories, editor John Joseph Adams tasked some of the brightest luminaries of speculative fiction to write stories of vast, galaxy-spanning empires and the people that live in them. … By mixing writers with great experience in with newer authors, Adams captures both the feel of the old pulp magazines and the practical elements of the ever-changing science of astronomy and space travel. … Editor Adams has collected both the finest writers and their finest tales in the definitive volume of vast, epic, interstellar Federations.”

Bibliophile Stalker reviews Federations:

“It’s a testament to the strength of the editor when a mixed anthology–one that features both reprints and original stories–features a consistent selection that one has trouble discerning which is which (or ceases to care about identifying them). Federations is one of those anthologies where I open the book and each story is a treat. … Federations is an accessible science fiction anthology and features both recognizable and refreshing elements of the genre. … [O]ne of the more enjoyable books I’ve encountered in quite some time”

BookPage Magazine reviews By Blood We Live:

“More than anything, this anthology demonstrates that the vampire is not only undead but mutable, and in the best writers’ hands, a tool for analyzing our mortal frailty and resilience in the teeth of unadulterated evil and unimaginable love.”

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The Living Dead named to PW’s “Best of the Year” list

Publishers Weekly has announced their 2008 Best Books of the Year, which includes The Living Dead. Here’s what they said:

“The Living Dead, Edited by John Joseph Adams: This superb reprint anthology runs the gamut of zombie stories, with entries by a plethora of renowned and outstanding authors from all sides of the genre.

This honor was extended to only 7 books in the “SF/Fantasy/Horror” genre. See PW’s website for the complete list, including non-genre bests.

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New Reviews of Wastelands & The Living Dead

The Short Review on Wastelands: “This could have been dreary. … [But] there’s nothing dreary in this book. The stories here are real, juicy, solid stories instead of morality lessons in disguise, and not two of them are alike.”

SF Scope covers the Oct. 7 “Readings of The Living Dead” event presented by the New York Review of Science Fiction reading series: “At a time when the scariest stories are found on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and on the very evening of a Presidential debate (on top of which, I’d just been to the dentist and told that I need a root canal), zombies have a lot of fierce (dare I say stiff—get it? "Stiff", dead body?) competition to terrify us, but Kirtley and Langan successfully managed to affect us, haunt us, creep us out, disgust us, and even raise the odd hollow chuckle.”

Mania.com also reviews The Living Dead, giving it an “A” grade and calling it “One of the best zombie anthologies published in recent years.”

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Zombies at 99.5 FM

Last weekend, I appeared alongside David Barr Kirtley on Jim Freund’s Hour of the Wolf radio program on WBAI 99.5 FM in New York to discuss The Living Dead and Seeds of Change. Dave came along and read his story from The Living Dead, "The Skull-Faced Boy."

Here’s me, relaxing in the studio as Dave reads his story:

John Joseph Adams

And here’s Dave reading:

David Barr Kirtley

You can listen to the whole show by streaming it from the WBAI’s website, or you can download the following MP3s. Dave edited down the show into an abridged “good parts” edition for your listening pleasure:

Part 1 – Discussion
Humorous zombies?, Joe Hill, Owen’s King’s Who Can Save Us Now?, Seeds of Change, The Living Dead cover art

Part 2 – Reading
"The Skull-Faced Boy" by David Barr Kirtley, read by the author

Part 3 – Callers
Andy Duncan, Zora Neale Hurston, George Romero, From Dusk Til Dawn, Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead

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5 Takes on The Living Dead

There are a couple new reviews of The Living Dead to share:

USA Today’s Pop Candy blog: “a cool new anthology.”

BookLoons: “A fascinating collection which proves to the reader that no zombie story is the same and shows what amazing settings and situations authors can create to involve zombies.”

Subterranean Online: “The Living Dead features some great seminal tales [and] several lesser-known stories that definitely deserve more attention.”

Bookgasm: “Contains its fair share of pleasant surprises. … Filled with tales that take the zombie in wildly different directions.”

Textual Frigate blog: “There was a lot of variety in this book. … There really is something here for any type of zombie fan.”

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LibraryThing users love Wastelands

Over on LibraryThing, a user gave Wastelands a really great review: “Without question this was one the best books of the last 5 years. … [Adams] has put together one of the best anthologies in the genre that I have seen. Although I was initially a bit cautious, once I began reading I found it nearly impossible to put down.”

Someone else started his review "When reading the back cover of this book, it looks terrible, like classic bad sci-fi" but gave the book 5/5 stars and said some very nice things about it. Kind of surprising that someone would thing the back cover makes it sound terrible and would then go on to not only read it but love it. (He seems to have read it because of the contributor list.)

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