Tochi Onyebuchi - Tor/Forge Blog

Tor Books at NYCC 2022!

September 29, 2022May 14, 2024a cat1 Comment

We couldn’t be more thrilled to get back to the Big Apple—Tor Books is coming to New York Comic Con! Join the convention from October 6-9 (tickets for physical & virtual access can be bought here) for some amazing panels, and don’t forget to follow us on social media and the hashtag #TorNYCC2022 for announcements, sweepstakes, and more!

Thursday — October 6

Morning ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Kate Elliott, The Keeper’s Six

In-Booth Signing: Anne Heltzel

Booth 3027
2:00 – 3:00 PM
With her spine-chilling and sharp adult debut, Anne Heltzel (she/her) is a fresh new voice in horror!

Evening ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Leopoldo Gout, Piñata

Panel – Improbable Imaginings

Room 1B-02
3:45 – 4:45 PM

AKA Flights of Fantasy Fiction: Let your imagination soar through the fantastic tales of deadly games, royal intrigues, wuxia, espionage, and ancestral hauntings. Phoebe Cramer (Publishers Weekly) chats craft and creativity with Alex Aster (Lightlark), Alina Boyden (Gifting Fire), Wesley Chu (The Art of Prophecy), GennaRose Nethercott (Thistlefoot), and Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive).

Friday — October 7

Morning ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
J. R. Dawson, The First Bright Thing

Panel – Spotlight on Leigh Bardugo

Room 405
12:00 – 1:00 PM

Meet the #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo! Ten years ago, her first book Shadow and Bone hit shelves – and now, the Grishaverse spans nine novels (including the Shadow and Bone trilogy, the Six of Crows duology, the King of Scars duology), Demon in the Wood (the brand-new graphic novel prequel), and was the inspiration behind Netflix’s record-breaking original series. She’s also the author of adult fantasy Ninth House and its forthcoming sequel, Hell Bent. Celebrate a decade of Bardugo on this spotlight panel moderated by Tochi Onyebuchi.

In-Booth Signing: John Scalzi

Booth 3027
1:00 – 2:00 PM
One of the most popular SF authors of his generation + burrito chef / artist, John Scalzi (he/him) is here to sign some books 😎

**In-Booth Signing + ARC Giveaway: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard**

Booth 3027
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series Susan Dennard (she/her) returns with something haunting, something new: The Luminaries.

Evening ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Annalee Newitz, The Terraformers

In-Booth Signing: Tochi Onyebuchi

Booth 3027
4:00 – 5:00 PM
The awards and accolades of Tochi Onyebuchi (he/him) cannot be contained in the space allowed by his short blog introduction, which is just another accomplishment! So, put quickly: author of Riot Baby and Goliath & delightful nerd Tochi Onyebuchi will be signing in the above place at the above time!

Panel – Leaning into the Witchy

Room 1C-02
5:15 – 6:15 PM

Enjoy a tasty brew of witchcraft, magic, and practitioners conjured up by Celestine Martin (Witchful Thinking), Andy Mientus (Fraternity), Susan Dennard (The Luminaries), Scarlett St. Clair (When Stars Come Out) and Jenna Evans Welch (Spells for Lost Things), with Liberty Hardy (Book Riot Senior Contributing Editor) stirring the conversational pot. Post-panel signing by Susan Dennard @ Table 3-4!

Panel – Tor After Dark: Chaotic Book Club

Room 405
7:30 – 8:30 PM

Join a panel of Tor employees as they discuss some of their favorite book moments, give you an in depth sneak peek at upcoming reads and indulge in some real-talk book talk–all while answering questions from you along the way. If a pub trivia night, a Reddit AMA, and a book club had a baby…well it’d be really weird but it would also be this panel–which is why attendees are guaranteed to have a good time. Trivia prizes will be given and attendees will each receive a book.

Saturday — October 8

Panel – Calling All Monsters: On Liminality & Power Through the Lens of Speculative Fiction

Room 406.2
10:20 – 11:30 AM

When it comes to power, what better comes to mind than the literal ability to fly, shapeshift, or otherwise hold magic at your fingertips? Join Geeks OUT, as a panel of speculative fiction writers discusses how their characters interact with the supernatural, while navigating intersectional identities. Discussing how power manifests in more ways than one, speculative fiction addresses how members of marginalized communities fight back against real and fictional evils. Panelists include Alechia Dow (The Sound of Stars), Kylie Ren Baker (The Keeper of Night), Claribel A. Ortega (Witchlings), Alexandra Rowland (A Taste of Gold and Iron), Neon Yang (The Genesis of Misery), and moderated by Geeks OUT Editorial Coordinator, Michele Kirichanskaya.

Morning ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Malka Older, The Mimicking of Known Successes

In-Booth Signing: Amanda Foody & C. L. Herman

Booth 3027
12:00 – 1:00 PM
The powerhouse duo behind the bestselling dark YA fantasy All of Us Villains Duology, Amanda Foody (she/her) & C. L. Herman (they/she) are here to work some magic signing books!

Panel – Titans of Fantasy In Conversation

Room 405
12:00 – 1:00 PM

Join three of the biggest authors in the fantasy genre for a can’t miss conversation only at New York Comic Con! Brandon Sanderson (The Stormlight Archive), Diana Gabaldon (Outlander) and Terry Brooks (The Shannara Chronicles) will take the stage for a one-of-a-kind panel to discuss what it’s like to build iconic worlds that keep fans reading “just one more chapter”.

In-Booth Signing: Neon Yang

Booth 3027
1:00 – 2:00 PM
In previous incarnations, Neon (they/them) was a molecular biologist, a science communicator, a writer for animation, games and comic studios, and a journalist for one of Singapore’s major papers. Now they’re a writer of award-winning science-fiction. Oh, yeah, and also signing at our booth 😎

Q&A and Reading: Brandon Sanderson

Room 405
1:30 – 3:30 PM

In-Booth Signing: Alexandra Rowland

Booth 3027
2:00 – 3:00 PM
Alexandra Rowland (they/them) is the author of A Taste of Gold and Iron plus cohost of the four-time-Hugo-Award-nominated podcast Be the Serpent, all sternly supervised by their feline quality control manager. We’re just thankful their cat signed off on allowing them to sign books with us!

Evening ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Fonda Lee, Untethered Sky

Sunday — October 9

Morning ARC Giveaway

Booth 3027
10:00 – 11:00 AM
Moses Ose Utomi, The Lies of the Ajungo

In-Booth Signing: Jennifer Marie Brissett

Booth 3027
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Jennifer Marie Brissett (she/her) has warn many hats: software engineer, writer of critically-lauded science fiction, and proprietor of Indigo Café & Books in Brooklyn! Add to that list: author we’re so lucky to have signing at our booth!

In-Booth Signing: Paul Cornell

Booth 3027
12:00 – 1:00 PM
Paul Cornell’s (he/him) storied career of writing stories has taken him from TV to novels to comics! Today it takes him to our booth. Stop by and ask for his signature 😎

Pre-panel Signing: Jennifer Marie Brissett

Room 1C-03
Table 3-4
1:00 PM

Pre-panel Signing: Neon Yang, Tochi Onyebuchi, & John Scalzi

Room 1B-02
Table 3-4
2:45 PM

Evening Book Giveaway

Booth 3027
3:00 – 4:00 PM
Stan Lee & Jay Bonansinga, The Devil’s Quintet

Panel – Building on the Bones: Retold and Reimagined

Room 1C-03
3:00 – 4:00 PM

Authors draw inspiration from One Thousand and One Nights, Greek mythology including Persephone’s story, Chinese mythology, and tales of fate to create their original stories. Emily Calkins (Books Content Manager at Likewise) explores fantastic speculative worlds with Chelsea Abdullah (The Stardust Thief), Maya Deane (Wrath Goddess Sing), Emily X.R. Pan (An Arrow to the Moon), Kalynn Bayron (This Wicked Fate), and Jennifer Marie Brissett (Destroyer of Light).

Panel – The Future is Not Unwritten

Room 1B-02
3:45 – 4:45 PM

It’s impossible to predict what the future holds…but these authors have a pretty good shot at it. Go on a journey from our present day to so many possible futures as envisioned by some of science fictions brightest stars. From secret kaiju-ridden islands to far-flung intergalactic societies Jennifer Marie Brissett (Destroyer of Light) John Scalzi (The Kaiju Preservation Society) Neon Yang (The Genesis of Misery) and Tochi Onyebuchi (Goliath) write stories about our futures that tell us about our present.

Behind the Scenes / Lists / What's New

Books That Helped the Tor Staff Survive 2020

December 20, 2020May 3, 2024Rachel Taylor

We are so, so close to 2020 being over and while we can’t wait to finally escape the dumpster fire that was this year, we’re also taking the time to look back at the books that helped get us through. Check out which books we are most grateful for here.

Jordan Hanley, Marketing Manager

Tor.com Publishing novellas have really pulled me through 2020. They’ve also saved my Goodreads reading challenge! Here’s a few short novellas I’ve read that kept my passion for reading good horror alive:

Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw
A Song for Quiet by Cassandra Khaw
Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

I still have quite a few horrific Tor.com Publishing novellas on my TBR, including Ring Shoutby P. Djèlí Clark. These slender volumes keep me turning pages long into the night and have kept my 2020 reading challenge alive (or, perhaps, undead!)

Lauren Anesta, Senior Publicist

I, personally, think The Murderbot Diaries (by Martha Wells) is the #1 science fiction series ever published. I stand by this bold claim because it has been absolutely the only thing I’ve been able to read for pleasure since March 8, 2020, the day my attention span officially died. Murderbot, a mascot for socially anxious people everywhere, feels somehow even more relevant at a time when we’re all isolated. Like Murderbot, I’ve fully retreated into the comfort of my favorite TV shows and have lost my ability to maintain a conversation with people IRL. Murderbot has Sanctuary Moon, I have 21 seasons of Midsomer Murders. Murderbot is often angry and frustrated and doesn’t want to stop watching TV, but it gets up and gets the job done anyway, because people rely on it. I know I’ve certainly needed that reminder more than once in the past year, and Murderbot does that for me—but gently, and cushioned in pages full of high-intensity space battles, heist action, and technobabble.

Libby Collins, Publicist

WHAT A YEAR, AM I RIGHT. Books were the most (only?) consistent thing in my 2020, and I’m grateful for so many of them. I took special comfort in some amazing TDA titles, including The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. What a timely testament to the beauty of being alive, even during the hard times. This was also the year I *finally* made myself acquainted with Murderbot, and I am extremely in love. Martha Wells’s novella series, The Murderbot Diaries, were a source of comfort and I can’t wait to get to the novel, Network Effect. Two others that provided a different sort of comfort were Lavie Tidhar’s By Force Alone and Matt Goldman’s Dead West. The former is an Arthurian myth reimagined with Scorsese-type gangster characters—very bloody, very profane, very fun. The latter is a mystery, the fourth in Goldman’s Nils Shapiro series, with a well-rounded, funny, very lovable Midwesterner visiting LA for the first time to solve a Hollywood murder. I have to mention an upcoming title from the one and only Catherynne M. Valente, called The Past is Red. It’s a sharp, satirical, dystopian novella rooted in environmentalism featuring one of the most enjoyable main characters I’ve read recently. And finally, She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. This one also doesn’t come out until 2021 (July 20, 2021, in case anyone wants to jot that date down so they can run to their nearest bookstore or pre-order the heck out of this one) but I read it in 2020 and wow, did I love it. I felt consumed by this book while I was reading it, and all the moments I wasn’t reading it were spent basically thinking about it and the characters in it. Here’s to another year and an endless pile of new books to get us through.

Rachel Taylor, Marketing Manager

So I don’t know about y’all, but I kicked off this year thinking I was going to CRUSH my Goodreads challenge. But then…2020 happened and my attention span went straight out the window. But suddenly, TJ Klune was there to save the day. The House in Cerulean Sea was one of the first books I read after starting at Tor and I devoured it in a single day. It was the warm, comforting read I needed this year and it truly saved me in the early days of the pandemic. I spent most of the year anxiously hovering, waiting for Under the Whispering Door, TJ’s next adult book with Tor, to come in. Though it’s not publishing until September 2021, I was lucky enough to read it early and once again was completely absorbed. This is a must-read for 2021 and I personally can’t wait for more people to get their hands on the book so we can scream about it together.

Giselle Gonzalez, Publicity Assistant

There’s so many books that I’m so greatful to have read in 2020, but if I had to narrow it down, Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi would definitely be at the top of my list. Riot Baby was the first work I’ve read by Tochi and it is absolutely essential reading. It is powerful, eye-opening, moving, and nerdy-as-heck. A book I will never forget and will recommend to everyone! Another novel that I’m grateful to have read this year is Of Women and Salt by Gabriela Garcia. As a Cuban American woman it’s rare that I find a book that portrays my experience and that of the women in my family, but this novel felt like coming home. It’s a story of family, women, immigration, loss and it’s absolutely stunning, fierce and left me in a puddle of tears. It was one of the first times I saw myself and my family in a book and it holds a special place in my heart.

Leah Schnelbach, Staff Writer, Tor.com

Two of my favorite reads this year were, on the surface, quite different: Drowned Country, Emily Tesh’s sequel to her lovely Silver in the Wood, and Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.

Drowned Country is a funny, ache-y return to characters I loved. Henry Silver and Tobias Finch are one of my favorite literary couples (honestly, my only quibble with these books is that they’re not giant fantasy doorstoppers because I want to spend more time with those two) and Henry’s monster-hunting mother is hilarious. But what’s great about Drowned Country is that it takes this trio and deepens them. The narrative hops around in time, stranding us in terrible memories before dropping us back in the present, creating a palpable sense of Henry’s grief. By letting Henry’s neediness shade into real selfishness, Tesh is able to explore the consequences and put the poor, silly boy through more of an emotional wringer. Meanwhile, Tobias’ taciturn nature very nearly ruins everything, until the moment when he allows himself to act on impulse (and thus saves the day), and Adela Silver is older now, and has vulnerabilities of her own. Plus there’s a terrifying quest? And a whole new fantasy country? And a new character, Maud Lindhurst, who holds her own even with Henry’s mother? The book gently worries at the idea of past mistakes echoing up into the present—both personal failings like Henry’s, and the giant, world-shattering choices that led to the Drowned Country in the first place.

Now, Gilead is again, on the surface, quite different. The engine of the book is that Reverend John Ames, a septuagenarian father, is writing letters for his seven-year-old son. The Reverend has a heart condition. He could go at any time. The letters may be the only way the boy will know his father, so Rev. Ames knows he has to get them right. This is a slow, quiet, meditative book about the different shapes love can take. It spends pages and pages turning over one idea, one memory. It also talks, beautifully and at length, about John Brown’s fight against slavery, and the ultimate moral failure of the nice white people who refused to back his fight. The threads of personal history and national catastrophe weave together beautifully to add up to a book that is, at its heart, about the need to connect across time.

In both cases, these books allowed me to slow down and spend time with characters who became quite real. They gave me space to think about the past as both personal and political, and to read about people who are brave enough to drop their defenses and be honest with each other in order to heal sins of the past.

Anneliese Merz, Publicity Assistant

I’ve been immensely grateful for so many books this year, but I think that if I had to choose (help, Tor is making me!), I would say The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune was the perfect pick me up and feel good book that I needed in this god awful year that is 2020. I would also say, I finally read the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo in preparation for the show coming to Netflix in April 2021 and my body and mind is SO ready!

Extras / Lists / Video / What's New

#ICYMI- A Recap of TorCon 2020

June 15, 2020May 17, 2024Rachel Taylor1 Comment

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: