David Brin - Tor/Forge Blog

New Releases: 3/13/18

March 13, 2018May 10, 2024torforge

Happy New Release Day! Here’s what went on sale today.

opens in a new windowDayfall by Michael David Ares

opens in a new window In the near future, patches of the northern hemisphere have been shrouded in years of darkness from a nuclear winter, and the water level has risen in the North Atlantic. The island of Manhattan has lost its outer edges to flooding and is now ringed by a large seawall.

The darkness and isolation have allowed crime and sin to thrive in the never-ending shadows of the once great city, and when the sun finally begins to reappear, everything gets worse. A serial killer cuts a bloody swath across the city during the initial periods of daylight, and a violent panic sweeps through crowds on the streets. The Manhattan police, riddled with corruption and apathy, are at a loss.

NEW IN PAPERBACK

opens in a new windowA Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

opens in a new window As darkness sweeps the Maresh Empire, the once precarious balance of power among the four Londons has reached its breaking point.

In the wake of tragedy, Kell—once assumed to be the last surviving Antari—begins to waver under the pressure of competing loyalties. Lila Bard, once a commonplace—but never common—thief, has survived and flourished through a series of magical trials. But now she must learn to control the magic, before it bleeds her dry.

opens in a new windowChasing Shadows by David Brin & Stephen W. Potts

opens in a new window David Brin, Hugo award-winning author of The Uplift War, presents Chasing Shadows, a collection of short stories and essays by other science fiction luminaries. As we debate Internet privacy, revenge porn, the NSA, and Edward Snowden, cameras get smaller, faster, and more numerous. Has Orwell’s Big Brother finally come to pass? Or have we become a global society of thousands of Little Brothers—watching, judging, and reporting on one another?

opens in a new windowDangerous to Know by Renee Patrick

opens in a new window Los Angeles, 1938. Former aspiring actress Lillian Frost is adjusting to a new life of boldfaced names as social secretary to a movie-mad millionaire. Costume designer Edith Head is running Paramount Pictures’ wardrobe department, but only until a suitable replacement comes along. The two friends again become partners thanks to an international scandal, a real-life incident in which the war clouds gathering over Europe cast a shadow on Hollywood.

NEW FROM TOR.COM

opens in a new windowGods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson

opens in a new window In 2267, Earth has just begun to recover from worldwide ecological disasters. Minh is part of the generation that first moved back up to the surface of the Earth from the underground hells, to reclaim humanity’s ancestral habitat. She’s spent her entire life restoring river ecosystems, but lately the kind of long-term restoration projects Minh works on have been stalled due to the invention of time travel. When she gets the opportunity take a team to 2000 BC to survey the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, she jumps at the chance to uncover the secrets of the shadowy think tank that controls time travel technology.

NEW IN MANGA

opens in a new windowArifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest (Manga) Vol. 1 Story by Ryo Shirakome; Art by RoGa

opens in a new windowDevilman VS. Hades Vol. 1 Story by Go Nagai; art by Team Moon

opens in a new windowThe Girl From The Other Side: Siúil A Rún Vol. 4 Story & Art by Nagabe

opens in a new windowMonster Musume Vol. 13 Story and art by OKAYADO

opens in a new windowSorry For My Familiar Vol. 1 Story and art by Tekka Yaguraba

Lists

6 Fascinating Books to Read While Awaiting Season 2 of Westworld

December 28, 2017May 2, 2024torforge3 Comments

Where will artificial intelligence take us? And what existential questions will the rise of AI pose? These six reads explore the potential for robots and artificial intelligence to save — or destroy — us all… perfect to tie you over until Season 2 of Westworld.

opens in a new windowAutonomous by Annalee Newitz

opens in a new window It’s the future (it’s always the future) and drug pirate Jack — known as a pharmaceutical Robin Hood — is giving poor people the medicines they need but can’t afford. All admirable until Jack’s the cause of many lethal overdoses. Eliasz, a military agent, and his robotic partner, Paladin, are tracking her down. While doing so, they form an unusually close bond… sound familiar? Newitz is a master storyteller, and this book is especially powerful because it probes philosophical topics like property, identity, and — of course — autonomy.

opens in a new windowMade to Kill by Adam Christopher

opens in a new window Raymond Electromagnet is a detective. He’s also a robot. Programmed to always work to make a profit and with a memory tape limit of only 24 hours, Ray would do just about anything to get some cold hard cash, and he’s sure as hell good at keeping secrets. Hired to find a missing movie star, Ray the robot gets into some serious trouble… making the novel a thrill to read.

opens in a new windowInfomocracy by Malka Older

opens in a new window Infomocracy was on tons of 2016 Best Books lists, and Huffington Post called it “one of the greatest literary debuts in recent history.” It deserves the praise! Political parties spar during an election cycle, twenty years after Information — a powerful search engine — ended international wars and introduced global micro-democracy. How often do you hear about awesome political thrillers?

opens in a new windowAll Systems Red by Martha Wells

opens in a new window This one is really reminiscent of Westworld because it tackles the same fascinating (and scary) topic: consciousness in robots. In All Systems Red, a self-aware android on a mission in space has hacked its governor module and now refers to itself as “Murderbot,” scornful of humans. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, even the robot wants to find out what happened. This novel is especially frightening because it poses the question of what happens when robots outsmart humans… which seems to be very plausible in the near future.

opens in a new windowThe Boost by Stephen Baker

opens in a new window What happens when artificial intelligence gets installed into the brains of 99% of the human population? For one, a serious breach of privacy. In The Boost, Ralph notices that the new update to their brain chips will open a surveillance gate that could leave Americans extremely vulnerable… but in an attempt to expose this flaw, Ralph experiences resistance that threatens his life. His chip has been ripped out of his head, so now he has to fight back with his only analog tool: his brain.

opens in a new windowChasing Shadows by David Brin

opens in a new window We’re switching it up with a short story collection — and this anthology is hyper-realistic. Collected by David Brin (a legend) and written by other SF luminaries, Chasing Shadows examines the present-day increase in video surveillance and the state of technological transparency… ultimately revealing what the world might look like down the line (spoiler: dystopia).

If you’re looking for a quick yet horrifying non-fiction read, check out opens in a new windowthis 2-part article.

New Releases / What's New

New Releases: 1/10/17

January 10, 2017May 10, 2024torforge

Here’s what went on sale today!

opens in a new windowChasing Shadows by David Brin & Stephen W. Potts

opens in a new windowDavid Brin, Hugo award-winning author of The Uplift War, presents a collection of short stories and essays by other science fiction luminaries. As we debate Internet privacy, revenge porn, the NSA, and Edward Snowden, cameras get smaller, faster, and more numerous. Has Orwell’s Big Brother finally come to pass? Or have we become a global society of thousands of Little Brothers—watching, judging, and reporting on one another?

opens in a new windowThe Last Harvest by Kim Liggett

opens in a new window“I plead the blood.” Those were the last words seventeen-year-old golden boy quarterback Clay Tate heard rattling from his dad’s throat when he discovered him dying on the barn floor of the Neely cattle ranch, clutching a crucifix to his chest. Kim Liggett draws on her childhood during the Satanic Panic for a chilling tale of magic in The Last Harvest.

opens in a new windowI Love You Subject to the Following Terms and Conditions by Erin Lyon

opens in a new windowIn a world where marriage doesn’t exist—only seven-year contracts—you don’t marry, you sign. You don’t divorce, you breach. And sometimes, you just expire. Kate is struggling to find her footing. She gave up a career she hated to pursue the law, and now she’s buried in debt and unemployed. At least she’s signed to an amazing guy—hot, sweet, and committed.

opens in a new windowWindwitch by Susan Dennard

opens in a new windowIn this follow-up to New York Times bestselling Truthwitch, a shadow man haunts the Nubrevnan streets, leaving corpses in his wake—and then raising those corpses from the dead. Windwitch continues the tale of Merik—cunning privateer, prince, and windwitch.

NOW IN PAPERBACK:

opens in a new windowTruthwitch by Susan Dennard

opens in a new windowIn the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in trouble&mdashas two desperate young women know all too well. Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. It’s a powerful magic that many would kill to have on their side, especially amongst the nobility to which Safi was born. So Safi must keep her gift hidden, lest she be used as a pawn in the struggle between empires.

NEW FROM TOR.COM:

opens in a new windowDusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

opens in a new windowWhen her sister Patty died, Jenna blamed herself. When Jenna died, she blamed herself for that, too. Unfortunately Jenna died too soon. Living or dead, every soul is promised a certain amount of time, and when Jenna passed she found a heavy debt of time in her record. Unwilling to simply steal that time from the living, Jenna earns every day she leeches with volunteer work at a suicide prevention hotline.

NEW EBOOK BUNDLE:

opens in a new windowThe Wild Cards Collection by George R.R. Martin & the Wild Cards Trust

NEW IN MANGA:

opens in a new windowArpeggio of Blue Steel Vol. 9 Story and art by Ark Performance

opens in a new windowBattle Rabbits Vol. 3 Story by Amemiya Yuki; Art by Ichihara Yukino

opens in a new windowGolden Time Vol. 6 Story by Yuyuko Takemiya; Art by Umechazuke

opens in a new windowMy Monster Secret Vol. 5 Story and art by Eiji Masuda

Sweepstakes

SFF Holiday Sweepstakes

November 11, 2015April 9, 2024torforge16 Comments

Want to make your shelves the envy of genre fans everywhere this holiday season? We’re offering the chance to win your choice of boxes of sci-fi or fantasy novels, from authors like John Scalzi, Brandon Sanderson, Elizabeth Bear, and more. Sign up for the Tor Newsletter for you chance to win now!

And don’t forget to let us know which collection you’d like to win below.

Extras / Video

Tor Authors Take the Ice Bucket Challenge

August 20, 2014May 17, 2024torforge2 Comments

If you’ve been on social media at all lately, chances are you’ve seen the videos. Someone announces that they’ve accepted the opens in a new windowALS Ice Bucket Challenge, and promptly gets a bucket full of ice water dumped over their heads. The resulting expressions of surprise and frantic jumping around are great entertainment for those of us watching.

Three Tor authors have accepted the challenge, helping to promote awareness of ALS. We wanted to gather all three of those videos for you in one handy place, so you can enjoy watching Brandon Sanderson, Alex Bledsoe, and David Brin get a dousing!

opens in a new windowBrandon Sanderson

First up, Brandon Sanderson, the author of opens in a new windowWords of Radiance. After watching this, we’re not entirely certain Brandon’s actually human. But we love an author who can keep working, no matter what!

From opens in a new windowBrandon’s blog:

Now, the point of this challenge is that you either donate $100 to the ALS Association, or you do the ice bucket thing and donate $10. As I did the ice bucket thing, we’re choosing to donate $10 to ALS, and instead give the $100 to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund in the name of Sir Terry Pratchett. I figured it would be worthwhile to spread the love from this charity drive around.

Click through to read the rest, including who Brandon nominated for the challenge!

opens in a new windowAlex Bledsoe

Next up, we have Alex Bledsoe, the author of both the opens in a new windowEddie LaCrosse series, and the opens in a new windowTufa novels. For the ALS challenge, Alex got a little help from his boys—who don’t exactly have perfect aim. Close enough, though!

Our favorite part? “No, you didn’t miss!”

opens in a new windowDavid Brin

Our final video for this roundup features David Brin, the author of opens in a new windowExistence. I have to say, I think the way David handles the challenge is almost…Shakespearean. And the replay at the end is great!

Edited to add:

opens in a new windowDan Wells

And we have another Tor author taking up the challenge! Dan Wells, the author of the opens in a new windowJohn Cleaver series, has a whole group of kids available to dump some very cold water on his head.

So: who’s going to take the challenge next? Have we missed any of our authors participating? And, finally, find out more about the challenge, ALS, and how to donate on the opens in a new windowALS Association website.

Author Features

Throwback Thursdays: Space Cadets and Starship Troopers: The Eagle Has Landed

June 26, 2014May 10, 2024torforge

Welcome to Throwback Thursdays on the Tor/Forge blog! Every other week, we’re delving into our newsletter archives and sharing some of our favorite posts.

In 2010, we published the first of a two volume biography of one of the giants of science fiction: Robert A. Heinlein. At that time, we had an idea: why not ask our authors about their favorite Heinlein novels? Tor editor Stacy Hill was our shepherd for this series, and updates us on our journey. Now that opens in a new windowRobert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century, Volume 2 has come out, we’re revisiting that series. We hope you enjoy this blast from the past, and be sure to check back in every other week for more!

From Tor editor Stacy Hill: Regular readers of Tor’s newsletter and our blog know that Tor has recently published an all-new biography of Robert A. Heinlein. Written with the blessing of Heinlein’s late widow, Virginia, the work was many years in the making and contains a wealth of interesting information, including never-before-published excerpts from Heinlein’s correspondence. Even if you thought you knew everything there was to know about the man, I can promise you there are surprises to be found within these pages.

So, in celebration of the man and his works, we asked a number of sf writers to tell us which Heinlein novel is their favorite, and why. We were lucky enough to get a host of great authors, including:

opens in a new windowDavid Brin
opens in a new windowDavid Drake
opens in a new windowDavid G. Hartwell
opens in a new windowL.E. Modesitt, Jr.
opens in a new windowRudy Rucker
opens in a new windowJoan Slonczewski
opens in a new windowCharles Stross
opens in a new windowMichael Swanwick
opens in a new windowVernor Vinge

What’s Your Favorite Robert A. Heinlein Novel, Joan Slonczewski?

Have Space Suit—Will Travel was one of the more important books I read as a child. It starts with a bright teenager obsessed with getting to the moon, like I was. To get there, the teen has to win a space suit and get kidnapped by aliens, and escape with the help of two females—a child genius and an advanced alien—both clearly brighter than he is. Back then, bright females were scarce in any fiction.

In Have Space Suit, Heinlein’s ability to hook the reader draws us through a remarkable introduction in which an entire space suit is described at length. We keep turning pages through the teen’s course selection for senior year, as he takes up Spanish, Latin, calculus, and biochemistry—all of which later help him escape the aliens and worse. The book feels deceptively simple; its opening line consists of seven words of one syllable. Yet Heinlein weaves in concepts of mindboggling depth, from gas exchange in a space suit to linguistic development in the Roman Empire. Through it all, the humor is fresh and obvious to any reader. The Roman soldier even cracks a queer joke—imagine getting that past the juvenile censors in 1958.

From the protagonist’s teenage viewpoint, Earth-bound adults appear distant and preoccupied. The only ones who seem to be having fun are scientists. That, too, seemed familiar to me as the child of a physicist who worked on a Hal-like IBM 360. In the sixties, science was the stagecoach, the mule train heading toward the future’s ever-receding frontier. Have Space Suit was the kind of book that did that, a fictional journey driven by science.

Heinlein’s aliens are completely fantastic, yet somehow as real as a neighbor next door. Even the most advanced creatures are fallible, making mistakes that might doom an entire race. Yet the story begins and ends in small-town Ohio, near the home of the Wright brothers, and near where we raised our two sons. Today, this area still feels about the same. Any day now I expect to see those two alien space ships racing in.

This article is originally from the October 2010 Tor/Forge newsletter. Sign up for the Tor/Forge newsletter now, and get similar content in your inbox every month!

Author Features

Throwback Thursdays: Space Cadets and Starship Troopers

June 12, 2014May 10, 2024torforge

Welcome to Throwback Thursdays on the Tor/Forge blog! Every other week, we’re delving into our newsletter archives and sharing some of our favorite posts.

In 2010, we published the first of a two volume biography of one of the giants of science fiction: Robert A. Heinlein. At that time, we had an idea: why not ask our authors about their favorite Heinlein novels? Tor editor Stacy Hill was our shepherd for this series, and introduces us to our first guest: science fiction author and futurist opens in a new windowDavid Brin.

From Tor editor Stacy Hill: Sometimes, a topic comes along that’s just too big for one article.

In August, Tor will be releasing an all-new, first-ever authorized biography of a towering figure in the history of the genre: Robert A. Heinlein.

So, as our own little celebration of the man and his works, we thought it would be fun to find out just how much of an impact Heinlein’s stories and novels had on a number of our—and your—favorite sf writers. We asked them a simple question—what’s your favorite Heinlein novel?

We’ll be posting their answers once a week as we build toward publication of the biography, and I hope all of you will jump in and let us know if you have any favorites, too.

But enough about us.

What’s Your Favorite Heinlein Novel, David Brin?

Heinlein and Beyond This Horizon

RAH was a question-asker.

I consider Robert Heinlein’s most fascinating novel to be his prescriptive utopia Beyond This Horizon. (A prescriptive utopia is where an author “prescribes” what he or she believes a better civilization would look like.) While Heinlein did opine, extensively, about society in many books, from Starship Troopers to Glory Road, it is in Beyond This Horizon (BTH) that you’ll find him clearly stating This Is The Way Things Ought To Be. And it turns out to be a fascinating, surprisingly nuanced view of our potential future.

Like most Heinlein novels, Beyond This Horizon divides pretty evenly into two parts and it is only the second half that I hold in high regard. Heinlein wrote the first half at behest of the famed editor of Astounding Magazine, John W. Campbell, who was then holding forth on one of his favorite themes…that “an armed society is a polite society.”

In pushing this strange notion, Campbell was behaving very much like his arch-nemesis, Karl Marx. A few anecdotes and a good just-so story outweigh a hundred historical counter-examples. But no matter. Heinlein did as good a job of conveying Campbell’s idea in fiction as anybody could. So much so that the first half of Beyond This Horizon has been cited by state legislators in both Texas and Florida, proposing that all citizens to go around armed! Naturally, this leads (paradoxically) to a wild shoot-em-up, in the first half of Beyond This Horizon…which RAH suddenly veers away from at the midway point.

This division between halves is typical of Heinlein novels and it makes reading them an interesting, multi-phase experience. Generally, RAH was a master at starting his tales–in fact, I recommend that all neo writers study carefully the first few pages of any Heinlein tale, for his spectacularly effective scene-setting and establishment of point-of-view. (The opening scene of The Star Beast is the best example of show-don’t-tell that anyone can find.) Alas, most of his novels reach a vigorous climax, concluding part one…and then peter out disappointingly in the last half, amid a morass of garrulous talk.

But this is where Beyond This Horizon reverses all expectations. Sure, part one is action and part two is talk, as usual…only in this case, the action is silly and the talk is terrific! In fact, this is where Robert Heinlein displays how broad his intellectual reach can take us.

Here we see the clearest ever expression of his political philosophy, which is demonstrably neither “fascist” nor anywhere near as conservative as some simpleminded critics might have us think. Indeed, his famed libertarianism had limits, moderated and enriched by compassion, pragmatism and a profound faith that human beings can improve themselves, gradually, by their own diligence and goodwill.

I was amazed by many other aspects of this wonderful book-within-a-book, especially by Heinlein’s startlingly simple suggestion for how to deal with the moral quandaries of genetic engineering — what’s now called the “Heinlein Solution” — to allow couples to select which sperm and ova they want to combine into a child, but to forbid actually altering the natural human genome. Thus, the resulting child, while “best” in many ways (free of any disease genes, etc), will still be one that the couple might have had naturally. Gradual human improvement, without any of the outrageously hubristic meddling that wise people rightfully fear. It is a proposal so insightful that biologists 40 years later are only now starting to discuss what may turn out to be Heinlein’s principal source of fame, centuries from now.

When it comes to politics, his future society is, naturally, a descendant of the America Heinlein loved. But it has evolved in two directions at once. Anything having to do with human creativity, ambition or enterprise is wildly competitive and nearly unregulated. But where it comes to human needs, the situation is wholly socialistic. One character even says, in a shocked tone of voice: “Naturally food is free! What kind of people do you take us for?”

None of this fits into the dogma of Ayn Rand, whose followers have taken over the libertarian movement. If Robert Heinlein was a libertarian, it was clearly of a more subtle kind, less historically or anthropologically naive, more compassionate… and more interesting

But here’s the crux. For the most part, with Robert Heinlein, you felt he wasn’t so much lecturing or preaching as offering to argue with you! His books let you fume and mutter and debate with this bright, cantankerous, truly American soul, long after his body expired. And this joy in argument–in posing and chewing over thought experiments–is the very soul of what it means to be a writer or reader of science fiction.

This article is originally from the July 2010 Tor/Forge newsletter. Sign up for the Tor/Forge newsletter now, and get similar content in your inbox twice a month!

Sweepstakes

Not at San Diego Comic-Con Sweepstakes

July 12, 2012May 30, 2024torforge

Tor Books is heading to San Diego Comic-Con!

We hope to see many of you there. Stop by Booth #2707 to say hi or to participate in one of our many events and signings.

But for those of you who couldn’t make it out to California, we wanted to offer you the chance to grab some of the same amazing swag and books that we’re promoting at #SDCC. To enter for the chance to win one of these five prize bundles, leave a comment on this post telling us one fabulous thing that you’ll be doing this week while you are #NotAtComicCon. Whether you’re fighting a clone army, rescuing damsels in distress (or princelings in peril), zipping across galaxies at light speed, or just conquering your laundry pile, we hope that you have a great week.

Here’s a look at the prize:

Poster Placeholder of - 24

And here’s a list of what’s included in each prize bundle:

Wheel of Time backpack
Signed copy of Redshirts by John Scalzi
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
The Battle of Blood and Ink written by Jared Axelrod and illustrated by Steve Walker
Dark Companion by Marta Acosta
Existence by David Brin
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
The Eye of the World: Graphic Novel: Volume 2 Based on the novel by Robert Jordan, written by Chuck Dixon, illustrated by Andie Tong
Eyes to See by Joseph Nassise
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
Girl Genius Omnibus Volume 1 by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio
Halo: Cryptum by Greg Bear
Halo: Glasslands by Karen Traviss
Inside Straight edited by George R.R. Martin
Johnny Hiro: Half Asian, All Hero written and illustrated by Fred Chao
Laddertop: Volume 1 written by Orson Scott Card and Emily Janice Card Art by Honoel A. Ibardolaza
Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber
The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind
Passion Play by Beth Bernobich
Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers
The Way of the Kings by Brandon Sanderson

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. You must be 18 or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States or D.C. to enter. Promotion begins July 12, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. ET. and ends July 16, 2012, 12:00 p.m. ET. Void in Puerto Rico and wherever prohibited by law. Please see full details and official rules go here. Sponsor: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Author Features

How to Keep Smiling After the End of the World as We Know It

July 9, 2012May 10, 2024torforge

Written by David Brin

Most of literature and storytelling boils down to one basic issue, how to balance our hopes and our fears. Within a novel we adopt the characters’ yearnings—briefly—as our own, trying them on for size. And when those dreams, those ambitions, are threatened? That drives both empathy and a gripping plot-line. The hopes can be as small-scale as getting invited to a dance and the threat might just be a teen rival…

…or the issues at stake may ramp up to include absolutely everything we value. Our families, nations, civilization, and continuing survival. Our chance to continue existing as a species. Perhaps even the flourishing of life itself in our galaxy?

Is that topic too both broad and heavy for a summer novel? Maybe so! And yet, I found the experience of writing Existence both fun and—at times—even humorous. As they say, nothing quite focuses the mind better than the approaching possibility of the end of the world. While characters hurry about discovering secrets and peeling back layers, with some of my trademark action, there are many breaks between the chapters that offer readers brief, detailed glimpses of the world in 2050.

Here’s one, dealing with that central theme:

Martin Ramer (for the BBC): We’re here with Jonamine Bat Amittai, compiler of Pandora’s Cornucopia—the epibook that’s been scaring and depressing so many of us ever since Awfulday, conveying all the myriad ways that the universe might have it in for us, bringing an end to human existence. Or perhaps only our dreams.

Either way, it’s been a heady ride through the valley of potential failure and plausible death. Jonamine, how do you explain the popularity of your series?

Jonamine Bat Amittai: Men and women have always been attracted to stories about ultimate doom, from the Books of Daniel and Revelation to Ragnarok, from Mayan cycles to Nostradamus, from Doctor Strangelove to Life After People. Perhaps there is an element of schadenfreude, or deriving abstract pleasure from the troubles of others—even if those others will be your own descendants. Or else, some may feel stimulated to relish what they have in the precious here-and-now, especially if our lives and comforts appear to be on temporary loan from a capricious universe. For billions of people, nostalgia fascinates with the notion that the past is always better and preferable to the future.

I like to think that much of our fascination with this topic arises from our heritage as practical problem-solvers. The curiosity that drew our ancestors toward danger, in order to begin puzzling ways around it.

Martin Ramer: But your list is so lengthy, so extensive, so depressingly thorough. Even supposing that we do manage to discover some pitfalls in time, and act prudently to avoid them –

Jonamine Bat Amittai: And we have already. Some of them

Martin Ramer: But dodging one bullet seems always to put us in front of another.

Jonamine Bat Amittai: Is that a question, Mr. Ramer? Or were you merely stating the obvious?

Cheery stuff! And this from an author who is known far and wide for his general optimism. Oh, there is plenty to cheer you up within the pages of Existence. And the main characters never give up.

But for now, let’s conclude with another of those between-chapter interludes. This one is about an online contest in the near future, challenging bright folks all over the planet to compete to come up with the best and most likely way it all might come crashing down.

Cheers!

Okay. All right. Is that enough grist for the old brain-mill, boys and girls and AIs? It should suffice to get you started. Form teams, build your projections, and convince us that you know how it all will end!

We’ll be offering all sorts of intermediate prizes for those of you who come up with the top ten doom scenarios. Those that offer the best combo of scariness and plausibility!

Extra points if your model seems so disturbing and real that it generates action by public officials, politicians, movers n’ shakers! Do that well enough and your forecast might become that rarest of blessings, a self-preventing prophecy! A warning so vivid and persuasive that your fellow citizens all act to make sure it never actually plays out. A pitfall avoided. If so, good for you.

Hey, it could happen. It has happened… now and then. George Orwell did it. Ray Bradbury did.

What’s the grand prize in this gloomy contest?

Why, proving to be right, of course. You’ll have that ironic satisfaction if humanity ever stumbles into the quicksand pit or land-mine that you predicted, in detail.

Only this time, as the ultimate tragedy plays-out, you’ll know that not enough people listened.

As brief as that moment lasts—and it may only be an instant—you’ll have the satisfaction of muttering those most-voluptuously consoling words:

“You fools! I TOLD you – ”

TRANSMISSION CUT-OFF… REASON UNKNOWN –

…………………………

From the Tor/Forge July newsletter. Sign up to receive our newsletter via email.

…………………………

More from the July Tor/Forge newsletter:

Haunted Mansions and Eclipses by Marta Acosta
It’s Not All A Beautiful Mind by Dan Wells
Finding Research Treasure by D. B. Jackson
Johnny Hiro: Half Asian, All Hero Sneak Peek written and illustrated by Fred Chao
Urban Fantasy Sweepstakes

Events / What's New

Tor Books Announces Programming for San Diego Comic-Con 2012

July 5, 2012May 10, 2024torforge4 Comments

Poster Placeholder of - 19 Brandon Sanderson, John Scalzi and Steve Englehart as Comic-Con Special Guests!

This year at Tor’s Booth (#2707), we continue our popular *in-booth signings and giveaways, offering you a chance to meet your favorite authors up close and personal. This year we’re pleased to include the legendary

ORSON SCOTT CARD

author of New York Times Bestselling Ender’s Game, soon to be a major motion picture from Summit Entertainment!

Thursday, July 12th

12pm – 1pm Tor Booth (#2707) ROBIN MAXWELL, will sign advanced copies of Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan, coming from Tor in September.

3pm – 4pm Tor Booth (#2707) New York Times bestselling author and Comic-Con Special Guest, BRANDON SANDERSON, will sign copies of The Way of Kings.

2:30pm – 3:30pm Panel: The Dark Knight Rises: Is Batman Broken? Room 26AB
Strong, smart, and heroic, he’s the Dark Knight we want on our side. But is Batman also out of his mind? Comic-con Special Guest, STEVE ENGLEHART joins Catwoman herself, Lee Meriwether, to discuss Bruce Wayne’s relationships, strengths and weaknesses. Does the Dark Knight have bats in his belfry?

4:45pm – 5:45pm Panel: The Fiction of Halo 4, Room 6BCF
Halo 4 heralds the return of one of gaming’s most iconic heroes, the Master Chief, in a new, epic sci-fi saga. Expanding and enriching the narrative, 343 Industries, panelists share how the development of stories across the GREG BEAR Forerunner saga, the KAREN TRAVISS Kilo-Five trilogy, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, Halo 4 Campaign and Halo Infinity Multiplayer have become connective tissue for Halo 4.

5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) Bestselling, award-winning futurist DAVID BRIN, will sign copies of his new high concept novel Existence, his first major work in over a decade.

Friday, July 13th

10am – 11am Panel: Art of the Thrill Kill, Room 24AB
From psycho killers and sociopaths to the vast unknowable emptiness of deep space, these authors know that it takes more than just blood and gore to keep their readers awake at night. DAN WELLS joins other top horror and thriller novelists to discuss how they balance ratcheting suspense with perfectly paced creepiness to create stories that are both psychologically and atmospherically disturbing.
12pm – 1pm Signing in the autographing area, AA09

12pm – 1pm Tor Booth (#2707) Legendary science fiction author ORSON SCOTT CARD & co-author AARON JOHNSTON sign Invasive Procedures a taut science fiction medical thriller. Five lucky people will get a chance to receive a signed copy of Earth Unaware: The First Formic War set in the popular Ender’s series, on-sale July 17th!

12pm – 1pm Spotlight on BRANDON SANDERSON, Room 25ABC
Author, educator, and Comic-Con Special Guest BRANDON SANDERSON talks about his growth from a nonreader in his youth to become one of the most popular fantasy writers working today. Sanderson’s books include his own Mistborn trilogy and his continuation of the late Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Timeseries, which wraps up in January 2013.

2:30pm Duo Paul & Storm join us in the Tor Booth (#2707) to serenade fans as they wait in line to meet New York Times bestselling author and Comic-Con Special Guest JOHN SCALZI! Then at 3pm, John signs copies of Old Man’s War, the book that launched his career!

3:30pm– 4:30pm Panel: Epic Fantasy War, Room 6A
Brandon Sanderson (The Way of Kings), joins the top names in fantasy fiction to discuss how the key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word epic-which doesn’t just mean ambitious in scale, scope, and size.
5:00pm – 6:00pm Signing in the autographing area, AA09

5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) DAN WELLS will sign copies of his the book that started it all, I Am Not A Serial Killer.

Saturday, July 14th

10am – 11am That 70s Panel, Room 23ABC.
STEVE ENGLEHART makes a Comic-con Special Guest Spotlight appearance on this panel. Get out your pet rocks!

12pm – 1pm Comics Arts Conference Focus on STEVE ENGLEHART , Room 26AB
Travis Langley (Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight) moderates a discussion of Englehart’s stellar career writing the adventures of Captain America, Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Coyote, Night Man, the Justice League, and dozens of other characters.

12:00pm – 1:00pm Panel: The Naked Truth About Tarzan and Jane: The First 100 Years of Spectacular Tarzan Imagery, and One of Literature’s Best-Loved Couples as They Enter Their Second Century, Room 25ABC
Bestselling novelist Robin Maxwell (Jane: The Woman Who Loved Tarzan) and author Scott Tracy Griffin (Tarzan: The Centennial Celebration) gather with illustrator Joe Jusko (The Art of Joe Jusko) to discuss these iconic literary characters. Join them for a presentation and Q&A session hosted by Jim Sullos, president of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Incorporated, the official licensing entity for Tarzan and John Carter of Mars.
Room 25ABC

2pm – 3pm Tor Booth (#2707) Iconic science fiction author GREG BEAR signs copies of Halo: Primordium, Book Two of the Forerunner Saga.

12pm – 1pm Tor Booth (#2707) Father/daughter duo ORSON SCOTT CARD & EMILY SCOTT CARD sign copies of their first writing collaboration, Laddertop, Volume 1.

3pm – 4pm Panel: A Wrinkle in Time, Room 23ABC
From the far-flung reaches of the Milky Way to the mind-bending possibilities of time travel, let the authors of speculative fiction tell you what they see when they venture to other dimensions. With DAVID BRIN & ORSON SCOTT CARD.
4:30pm – 5:30pm Signing in the Autographing area, AA09

4:30pm – 5:30pm Solo Autographing with BRANDON SANDERSON, Room Table AA18

5pm – 6pm Tor Booth (#2707) STEVE ENGLEHART will sign copies of The Long Man.

5:30pm – 6:30pm Spotlight Panel with JOHN SCALZI, Room 7AB
Comic-Con special guest JOHN SCALZI (Redshirts) talks about his latest work, his upcoming novel, video game, and film projects, takes questions and generally tries to amuse the hell out of you for an hour. With him as moderator/interviewer/conspirator: Wil Wheaton (Tabletop). It’ll be the most fun you can have while respirating.
3:30pm – 4:30pm Solo Autographing, AA18

Sunday, July 15th

10pm – 11am Panel: Stunted Fools and Scary-Ass Clowns: Humor in Science Fiction and Fantasy Room 25ABC
Join in for an irreverent hour celebrating sly wit and unholy humor with some of the most devilish quipsters, wisecrackers, and satirists writing today. JOHN SCALZI (Redshirts) plays ringmaster to some of the best SFF humor writers in the field.
11:30am – 12:30pm Signing in the autographing area, AA04

2:45pm – 3:45pm Panel: Heroes for the Middle Grade Reader: Books That Will Rock Your Socks Off, Room 5AB
EMILY JANICE CARD (yes, daughter of THAT Card) teamed up with her famous father to write a science fiction manga, Laddertop, Volume 1 aimed at middle grade readers, and will join a panel discussing adventurers and unexpected champions that we can all cheer for.
4pm – 5pm Signing in the Autographing area, AA09

12pm Tor Booth (#2707) giveaway, The Omen Machine by New York Times bestselling author, Terry Goodkind.

2pm – 3pm Tor Booth (#2707) giveaway, Dark Companion the YA debut of Marta Acosta.

Make sure to follow @Torbooks on Twitter for up to date information and last minute events!

All Tor Booth signings are on a first come first serve basis and while supplies lasts. Limit one book per person.

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