Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, and Other Speculative Fiction
Today, we are celebrating the release of Holly Black’s long-anticipated adult fantasy debut, Book of Night! How are we celebrating? Good question! Answer? With some incredible video interviews with Holly herself!
Check it out!
Discover the story behind Book of Night in this exclusive interview with #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black!
Learn more about #1 New York Times author Holly Black as she answers rapid fire questions and talks about her adult debut, Book of Night!
Can you not get enough of To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini? Can’t wait to get your hands on the paperback edition this September? Make the wait bearable and get behind the scenes with the author himself!
We can’t wait for The Justice in Revenge by Ryan Van Loan to hit shelves on 7/13, so we’re doing a throwback to pre-COVID times when Ryan visited the Tor Books office and answered alllllll our burning questions about The Sin in the Steel. Check it out here!
In conversation with Ryan Van Loan, author of The Sin in the Steel
What is your favorite location in the book?
RVL: You know, I think my favorite location is the port, it’s this pirate’s shanty town and in the book they talk about the fact that it’s named because of the glint of gold in the sun. But at the same time, one of the other characters brings up the fact that blood glints the same way, and I think that’s a pretty good representation of it. It’s a place where there’s always a good time lurking around every corner, but some of those good times might involve a blade or two so you really have got to keep your eyes sharp.
Who would you rather have your back in a fight, Buc or Eld?
RVL: I love Buc, but she has a really strong sense of self-preservation, and she’s pretty small, so I think I’m going to go with Eld. He’s not going to run away, and he’s a pretty beefy dude, bigger than me, so he’s going to be a good bullet catcher for me, I think.
If The Sin in the Steel was a game, what type of game would it be?
RVL: You know, I love those sprawling single RPG player games, like Skyrim or The Witcher 3 or the Assassin’s Creed ones, they even have a pirates one in there that’s a lot of fun to play, so I think The Sin in the Steel would definite be some sprawling, single player RPG where the real hook is what’s over the next horizon, and sometimes what’s over the next horizon might be a pirate ship, or a hoard of undead, or 30-50 feral hogs, you never know.
Where do you draw inspiration from in the world you created here?
RVL: Yeah, that’s a good question. You know, I started with a character and so I knew that I wanted to tell a story about a young woman who was breaking chains in her world, but I didn’t know what those chains were right away. And then I realized that I really wanted to play with the concept of empire and trading companies and capitalism, and so then I started thinking about different settings and age of sale, and mercantilism really came into play. So then I started thinking about where are these melting pots of culture, because I always think that’s really interesting, different cultures meeting together. So I think Venice and the Mediterranean, the Umayyad Empire in Córdoba, Spain back in the day, the South China Sea, the Caribbean, all these different places. I’ve been fortunate to visit a few of them, and so that really gave me this idea of this island empire and this Mediterranean, quasi-Caribbean feel that I don’t think I’ve seen a lot of in fantasy lately, and that’s what got me really excited and where I drew my inspiration from.
What is your favorite city that you’ve visited?
RVL: I think my favorite city is Paris; I love Paris. The first time I went, I wasn’t expecting to love it as much as I did, and then I just fell in love with France, so I’ve become a bit of a Francophile. But I think the most beautiful place I’ve been is Thailand. We got to spend time with this elephant rescue park. It was me, my wife, and the guide and just these two elephants in the middle of the jungle, it was magical and the people were so nice. Thailand, France, Mexico is another one, Puerto Rico, those are some of my favorite places for sure.
Did you always know you wanted to write a pirate story?
RVL: So I always loved pirates, as a little kid I would make my mom draw on me with magic marker, skulls and crossbones and anchors, and wear bandanas and climb trees, yell ‘ahoy.’ I think I read Treasure Island at an impressionable age, so that’s where that bit came from, and maybe I regret that a little bit. I know my mom regrets drawing on me now, because then I went and got a bunch of tattoos. But I don’t know if I set out to write a pirate story, I set out to write a story that had ships in it and sailing and canons and swords, so that kind of brought pirates into it.
What is the strangest thing you had to research for The Sin in the Steel?
RVL: So I got to do some cool things, there are some gear-powered ships in the world that go faster than what wind and sail allow, and so I had to figure out the physics of that and the engineering. There’s magic involved so you can kind of ‘wink wink’ a little bit. But I think strange wise, figuring out if a slingshot is powerful enough to sever a brainstem is one, and then probably the effects of urine on hemp rope, that’s probably the strangest.
HEROES FOR HIRE. IF YOU CAN PAY.
In Karen Osborne’s duology, The Memory War, going to the stars means entering an indenture contract with one of the companies that run the spacelanes. While writing the book, Osborne gave a lot of thought into what indenture orientation might look like…then brought her vision to life. Check out her video now to bring yourself behind the eyes of those waiting to sign their contracts, and don’t forget to add Architects of Memory and Engines of Oblivion to your TBR!
We are OBSESSED with Ryan Van Loan’s debut The Sin in the Steel. Who wouldn’t love a fantasy world filled with dead gods, a pirate queen, and SHAPESHIFTERS! Before COVID-19 had us all working from home, we sat down with Ryan for some super important, very professional rapid-fire questions to get to know him a little better. Check out his responses here!
Rapid-fire Questions with Ryan Van Loan, author of The Sin in the Steel
Question: Pirates or Mages?
RVL: Uh, mages.
Question: Magic or science?
RVL: Science is magic!
Question: Cannons or swords?
RVL: Cannons is probably the smarter answer, but I love swords and how it feels in your hand so I’m going to go with the sword.
Question: Buc or Eld?
RVL: Ahhh, both.
Question: Blood or Gold?
RVL: I’m going to go with gold.
Question: Sin or steel?
RVL: Sin sounds a lot more fun.
Question: Waffles or pancakes?
RVL: I don’t think waffles are a real thing so I’m going to go with pancakes.
Question: Cats or dogs?
RVL: I’m a huge dog person. If you follow me on social media, you’ll see, I think I post my pittie and my boxer about 1 million times throughout the course of the month, so sorry to the cat people but I really love dogs.
Question: Sidekicks or heroes?
RVL: I think it depends on who the sidekick or hero is, but it’s hard to beat a good hero. I’m thinking Storm, Wolverine, Captain America, so I think I’m going to have to go with heroes.
Question: Which is a better reward, money or rare books?
RVL: I think money so I can hire someone to translate the rare books that I won’t be able to read.
Question: Would you rather face 30-50 wild hogs, or a horde of undead?
RVL: Oooo, uh, the undead are pretty scary but the idea of 30-50 wild animals that are 400 pounds chasing after me, I think I could stand a chance against the undead a little bit better.
Question: What’s the best pirate ship?
RVL: Oh, so that’s easy! The best pirate ship is in the Princess Bride, Dread Pirate Roberts’ the Revenge.
We are so excited for all of you to read Attack Surface, so we decided to offer a special treat—an inside look into Cory Doctorow’s writing habits and advice! Check out his video on writing here.
On Writing with Cory Docotorow
Question: What is your favorite way to procrastinate?
Cory Doctorow: I think my favorite way to procrastinate is to write something else. I have written whole books by procrastinating about books. Little Brother was written while I was procrastinating about Makers.
What is your ideal time and place for writing?
CD: It’s funny, I have a writing space at home. I have an office full of books and tchotkes, that you know–I just had a writing friend over and he was like ‘Oh it’s the opening credit reel from that Ray Bradbury show where he shows you all of his junk.’ And I’m like: ‘Yeah, basically’. And I’ve got a 40 inch monitor and a great chair and a standing desk that comes up and down and all of the things! And yet, I have to say, I do the majority of my writing on the road. I always have.
I sold my first novel while I was doing a startup and then I went to work as the European director of an NGO. I was on the road 27 days a month, and I learned to write with my laptop folded all the way vertical and my fingers like this (gesture: hands bent back fully back palms out, fingers crooked in a typing motion) on the keyboard. And then between flights I would crouch down next to the toilets where the AC outlet was because Always Be Charging is the lesson of any writer.
So as it turns out, I write everywhere. In theory, I write at home, but that’s pretty aspirational.
What’s your advice for writing complicated and occasionally unlikeable characters, like Masha in Attack Surface?
You know they say that no one is the villain of their own story, but anyone who’s ever lain awake at night recriminating with themselves about some thing that they did that day or 10 years before knows, it’s actually pretty easy to be the villain of your own story. That compartmentalization, self doubt, and inability to be perfect is, I think, part of the human condition. And there is something very sympathetic, being in the head of someone who’s wrestling with their better nature and their worse and who’s rationalizing their way in and out of trouble.
Masha was a fun character to write because she knows when she’s rationalizing and she doesn’t kid herself about it. And because of that, she thinks she’s better than people who think they’re doing good–who talk themselves into thinking that they’re doing good even when they’re not. It made for really gnarly writing. It also I think it changed how I think about my own life. I mean, like everyone else, I am a flawed vessel, and being inside the head of someone who was so rigorous with and hard on herself made it a little harder for me to kid myself when I knew I was doing the wrong thing.
We met the mysterious and morally ambiguous character Masha in Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother and Homeland, and we’re excited that she’s getting her time to shine in the upcoming book Attack Surface!
But what went into introducing this character? Check out Cory as he talks more about Masha, Attack Surface, and more here.
George A. Romero invented the modern zombie in his seminal film, Night of the Living Dead. Without Romero, there would be no World War Z, no The Walking Dead. Two of Romero’s biggest admirers and collaborators join together for a candid conversation on the themes, ideas and messages behind the legend’s greatest work: “The Godfather of Gore” Tom Savini (special effects artist, actor, director, stunt man, teacher, mentor) and New York Times bestselling author Daniel Kraus (The Shape of Water), who has posthumously completed the zombie novel Romero left behind when he passed in 2017. The newly released The Living Dead (August 4, 2020), is a story of the zombie plague, from first rising to the fall of humankind – and beyond. This conversation was moderated by film critic Walter Chaw.
We are so grateful to everyone who joined us for TorCon 2020, and we hope you had as much fun as we did!
If you’re bummed you couldn’t make it to all of the activities, don’t worry, we’ve got your back. You can see the recordings of almost all of TorCon plus some short recaps below!
On the first day of TorCon, Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars) and Brandon Sanderson (Rhythm of War) chatted about writing fantasy and science fiction, writing veeerrry long books, steak, and finding truth in fiction. Their event was only available at TorCon, but you’ll get a chance to see their conversation again this fall!
Later on, V. E. Schwab (The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue) and Neil Gaiman (The Annotated American Gods) came together live and in conversation. It was beautiful and inspiring and we stan two legends and we weren’t crying it was just raining directly over our faces.
Rewatch below through Crowdcast:
Nothing pairs better with brunch than books. So we grabbed a brunch cocktail and joined The Calculating Stars author Mary Robinette Kowal for a balanced brunchfest of book talk…and a sneak peek at her upcoming “Lady Astronauts” novel, The Relentless Moon. Books & Brunch was moderated by Den of Geek contributor Natalie Zutter.
Rewatch now via Crowdcast:
Authors can take inspiration from anything to write stories, and we got a special inside look into how some of our favorite authors did when WE were the inspiration. At Saturday’s Chaotic Communal Storytime, K. A. Doore (The Unconquered City), S. L. Huang (Critical Point, Burning Roses), Arkady Martine (A Memory Called Empire), and Kit Rocha (Deal With the Devil) used audience writing prompts to create a brand new story—filled with MURDER, of course.
Rewatch now via Facebook Live!
Books are portals to different worlds, or so people say—but what exactly goes into creating those worlds? We joined P. Djèlí Clark (Ring Shout), Charlotte Nicole Davis (The Good Luck Girls), Bethany C. Morrow (A Song Below Water), Tochi Onyebuchi (Riot Baby), and moderator Saraciea Fennell as they discussed worldbuilding, craft, and the fun of creating limitless new universes contained within the pages of their works.
Check it out now via YouTube!
What better way to enjoy brunch than to pair it with some books? Authors Jenn Lyons (The Ruin of Kings and the upcoming The Memory of Souls) and Nathan Makaryk (Nottingham and the upcoming Lionhearts) joined TorCon for a brunch to end all brunches…complete with MULTIPLE CAMERA ANGLES and dramatic readings from both authors! Books & Brunch was moderated by Den of Geek contributor Natalie Zutter.
Watch it again via Crowdcast:
Pop culture has shifted its attention to the messy, the morally ambiguous, and the weird, and we’re LOVING IT! We joined some of the genre’s most exciting authors at TorCon to discuss how chaos reigns in their fantasy worlds, the cosmos, and the real world alike. Our panelists included Kate Elliott (Unconquerable Sun), Andrea Hairston (Master of Poisons), Alaya Dawn Johnson (Trouble the Saints), and Ryan Van Loan (The Sin in the Steel) and was moderated by Kayti Burt of Den of Geek.
Rewatch the Chaos and Cosmos panel now on YouTube:
Technology. Science. Politics. Their books touch on all of these, and they had the chance to talk about it at TorCon. We joined critically acclaimed, award-winning authors Cory Doctorow (Attack Surface, Little Brother) and Nnedi Okorafor (Binti, Remote Control) for our last TorCon panel, and what an amazing way to close out the weekend!
Rewatch this discussion, moderated by Kayti Burt of Den of Geek, via Crowdcast:
Missed Tor After Dark this month? Don’t worry, we’re recapping all the fun times with S. A. Hunt, Katherine Addison, and Kate Elliott right here!
In her first Instagram Live EVER, S. A. Hunt, author of Burn the Dark and upcoming novel I Come With Knives, took over our Instagram for Tor After Dark on June 9! She kicked things off by showing her audience some of her most treasured keepsakes (including some sweet enamel pins), and reading a thrilling selection from I Come With Knives. After her reading, Hunt took audience questions, engaging with new and old fans alike.
Want to watch the recording? Check it out on our Instagram here!
Interested in joining us for our next Tor After Dark special? Check out the schedule here!