Winner of The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition giveaway!

Congratulations to Terri L. of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who is the proud new owner of my slightly-used copy of the signed, limited edition, 750-page The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (Subterranean Press, 2009). Great job, Terri! Enjoy!

The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition signed limited edition giveaway!

Well, here are the details for my The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (2009) giveaway. If you’ve been following along, you already know that I’m giving away my slightly-used copy of this signed, limited, 750-page, “massively expanded new edition of the Ray Bradbury magnum opus” that includes an introduction by SF author John Scalzi, an introduction by SFFH author Joe Hill, twenty-two previously uncollected or unpublished "Other Martian Tales" written by Mr. Bradbury, stunning color plates by British artist Edward Miller, and two previously unpublished screenplays written by Mr. Bradbury (1964, 1997).

Here’s how the giveaway works:

• Giveaway is open to United States citizens only

• Send an email with the subject line “I want The Martian Chronicles!” to booksonmars@hotmail.com

• Your email must include your first name, the first letter of your last name, and the state in which you reside. (Example: Raymond D., California)

• Your email must include an explanation (no more than 500 words) of why you want my slight-used copy of The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition

• Your email must be received before midnight, 12:00 am, EST, Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

• I will give my slightly-used copy of The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition to the person whose explanation I like the most.

• I will announce the lucky recipient on Labor Day, Monday, September 6th, 2010.

That’s it!

Polling problems: The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition giveaway

Sorry folks, but I had to remove the poll about the GIVEAWAY for The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (Subterranean Press, 2009). For some reason, there was a frequent problem on Google's end. Not to worry! I've made a note of the results (12 votes in favor of me giving the book away, 2 against) and am well aware that fans are interested in this GIVEAWAY! Feel free to leave a comment expressing additional support for the GIVEAWAY!

The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition signed limited edition giveaway!

Last week I received a precious package in the mail: The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition (2009). A signed, limited “massively expanded new edition of the Ray Bradbury magnum opus” that includes an introduction by SF author John Scalzi, an introduction by SFFH author Joe Hill, twenty-two previously uncollected or unpublished "Other Martian Tales" written by Mr. Bradbury, stunning color plates by British artist Edward Miller, and two previously unpublished screenplays written by Mr. Bradbury (1964, 1997), this long-awaited, already-sold-out, 750-page, hardcover volume has a storied publishing history and was only brought to fruition through the generosity and hard work of Subterranean Press and PS Publishing.

I’ll be blogging about the twenty-two “Other Martian Tales” throughout Rocket Summer 2010. And, if fans show enough interest, I’ll be giving away my soon-to-be used copy at the end of the summer! Sound interesting? Take the poll (located near the top right-hand column of this blog, just below the promotional artwork for The Martian Chronicles: The Complete Edition) and let me know what you think!

Update, June 20, 2010: Due to technical difficulties, I had to remove the poll. Not to worry, I'll definitely be giving this beautiful book away at the end of the summer!

Rhone, a new dark heroic fantasy novel written by John A. Karr

Rhone, a new dark heroic fantasy novel set on Mars and written by eclectic American writer John A. Karr, has just been published as a trade paperback by United Kingdom-based Wild Wolf Publishing. Inspired by legendary writers Robert E. Howard, Michael Moorcock, Karl Edward Wagner and Edgar Rice Burroughs, here is the promotional piece for Rhone:

Mars has a hero that will defy both god and man ...

Rhone is an ex-soldier of mixed blood, more man than demon but with reserves of hellish power. He has led a peaceful life as a fisherman since his soldiering days and is raising a daughter, Enna. Returning home one day he finds Enna murdered -- or so he believes.

And so begins Rhone's manipulation by Ducain, a demigod hell-bent on ruling the heavens. After avenging his daughter's death, Rhone grieves and isolates himself in the mountains. Ducain tells him his daughter's soul is locked in purgatory but can be retrieved ... and if Rhone also frees the titan who once defied the king of gods, Enna will live again.

Fans in the United States, Canada, the UK and Europe have a chance to win a free copy of Rhone. Check the rules. The deadline is April 30, 2010.

Pictured: Rhone, cover by artist Peter C. Fussey.

Pyr reprints Ian McDonald's 2001 magic-realist novel Ares Express

The Pyr reprint of award-winning British author Ian McDonald’s 2001 novel Ares Express has landed on bookstore and library shelves. The follow-up to Desolation Road (1988, 2009), McDonald’s acclaimed debut novel, Ares Express is set on a terraformed Mars and stars fusion-powered locomotives.

A Mars of the imagination, like no other, in a colourful, witty SF novel; Taking place in the kaleidoscopic future of Ian McDonald's Desolation Road, Ares Express is set on a terraformed Mars where fusion-powered locomotives run along the network of rails that is the planet's circulatory system and artificial intelligences reconfigure reality billions of times each second. One young woman, Sweetness Octave Glorious-Honeybun Asiim 12th, becomes the person upon whom the future -- or futures -- of Mars depends. Big, picaresque, funny; taking the Mars of Ray Bradbury and the more recent, terraformed Marses of authors such as Kim Stanley Robinson and Greg Bear, Ares Express is a wild and woolly magic-realist SF novel, featuring lots of bizarre philosophies, strange, mind-stretching ideas and trains as big as city blocks.

SF&F critic Rich Horton reviewed Ares Express for the SF Site in 2002, concluding, "This may not be the most serious or the most significant SF novel of the past year, but it just might be the most fun. I loved it wholeheartedly."

More recently, Publishers Weekly gave the Ares Express reprint a positive review, concluding “McDonald’s fantastic Mars is vividly detailed and owes much to Bradbury’s Martian stories. Despite a bit of hand waving around technology that is glibly indistinguishable from magic, this sequel is entirely worthy of its rightly lauded predecessor."

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist has three copies of Ares Express that it is giving away. The announcement was posted on April 14, 2010, but I'm not sure when the deadline is.

Pictured: Ares Express (2010), with artwork by Stephan Martinière.

Spanish fan wins copy of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars, the new novella by Eric Brown

Editor Peter Crowther of United Kingdom-based PS Publishing announced that Tomás Sánchez Tejero of Spain, “a self-described bibliophile and sf book collector,” won a copy of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars (2009), the new novella written by British science fiction author Eric Brown, in one of the publisher's recent randomly-drawn email newsletter subscriber contests. Congratulations, Tomás!

Interested in a little taste of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars? Read the first 15 pages (pdf) for free!

The War of the Worlds trivia contest

To celebrate publishing house Penguin’s 75th anniversary, Waterstone’s, the United Kingdom’s leading bookseller, just launched a Writers' Table in which 50 Penguin authors name and explain their favourite books from the publisher’s classic backlist. The opening chapter, as posted on the website of The Times of London: British author Will Self explains why he has picked H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel The War of the Worlds.

More rewarding is this contest tie-in: The Times has “the full set of 50 books to win, if you can name the home town (in Surrey) of the narrator of The War of the Worlds. E-mail the answer to bookscomp@thetimes.co.uk with your name, address and telephone number. One entry per person. UK and RoI residents only. Entries must be received by noon on Monday, February 1.”

John Carter of Mars art contest

The blog Super Punch is hosting a John Carter of Mars art contest: “To enter, simply email me your John Carter of Mars-inspired work of art by 8:00 p.m. California time on Sunday January 31, 2010. Drawings, custom toys, sculptures, and photographs are all welcome. The best creation will win a $100 Threadless store credit. And I will also give a $25 store credit to one randomly chosen participant. You may send as many entries as you'd like, and this contest is open regardless of where you live. No nudity, please.”

Pictured: Warlord of Mars (London: New English Library, 1974), by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

Mars story runner-up in 2009 Medical SF Contest

Congratulations to James H. Dawdy, whose short story "Mars Rescue" (2009) won Second Place in the 2009 Medical Sci-Fi Contest sponsored by Medgadget, an internet journal of emerging medical technologies written, edited and published by a group of MDs and biomed engineers. Loaded with medical technology, Dawdy’s story is about the rescue of a field geologist from Valles Marineris.

Win a copy of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars, the new novella by Eric Brown

PS Publishing has the holiday spirit. The UK-based publishing shop announced that two randomly-drawn email newsletter subscribers will win a jacketed edition of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars (Nov 2009), the new novella written by British science fiction author Eric Brown, and one other title. The drawing will be conducted on Friday, December 18th, so if you don’t currently receive PS Publishing’s monthly e-newsletter, now is the time to sign up!

Gilbert and Edgar on Mars received positive reviews from The Baryon Review, Green Man Review and Fright.com.

Read the first 17 pages (PDF) of Gilbert and Edgar on Mars!

Piece on Mars submitted to New Scientist magazine’s Flash Fiction Competition

Over at NewMars.com, a forum for Red Planet enthusiasts provided by the Mars Society, a fellow named Louis from the UK has posted a piece of flash fiction entitled “Only Mars Now,” which he submitted to New Scientist magazine for its 2009 Flash Fiction Competition. Here are the opening lines of Louis’ work:

Olympus Areson emerged from the News Chamber, back into softly-lit, calm reality. The view through the protective translucency was reassuring: the blue-grey sky, the reddish line of the horizon and, in the foreground, lushly verdant growth chambers surrounded by colonising lichen. …

The deadline for submissions to the magazine's competition is October 15, 2009.

Labyrinth of Night, unpublished novel by T. L. James; semifinalist in 2009 ABNA contest

Earlier this year, Amazon.com held a writing contest for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, the winner of which received a Penguin publishing contract. One of the semifinalists was the unpublished YA science fiction novel Labyrinth of Night, written by Thomas L. “T.L.” James of Marsblog.net. Set on a recently colonized Mars starring 14-year-old Amber Jacobsen, daughter of NASA astronauts and the only child to be born on Mars, here are the opening lines of the novel:

Aboard the Odysseus Habitation (“Hab”) Module
Ares III Joint US/Russian Mission to Mars
September 4, 2029

They had made it. More or less.

The crew looked at each other for a long, quiet moment, before Mission Comander Art Martinez grinned broadly and broke the heavy silence. “Houston, Odysseus. We’ve had a bit of excitement here, but we’ve landed safe and sound. Initiating post-landing checkout and vehicle safing.” The crewmembers fell into well-rehearsed routines, checking vehicle systems and transitioning the hab from landing mode to surface mode. They could celebrate later, after the hab was safed and they figured out where they were and what had gone wrong. ...

You can read the prologue and first two chapters (18 pages) of Labyrinth of Night for free as an Amazon Short.

Also, it's worth Noting that as a contest semifinalist, James' unpublished novel received a review (positive!) from Publishers Weekly.

Best of success to T.L. James in getting Labyrinth of Night published!

Offworld, a new Christian novel by Robin Parrish

Offworld (Bethany House Publishers, July 2009), a new Christian novel written by author and journalist Robin Parrish, is generating quite a bit of interst in the mainstream press and the blogosphere. Set in the 2030s, here’s a description of Offworld, taken off of Amazon.com:

The return of NASA's first manned mission to Mars was supposed to be a momentous day. But when the crew loses touch with ground control before entry, things look bleak. Safe after a treacherous landing, the crew emerges to discover the unthinkable -- every man, woman, child, and animal has vanished without a trace. Alone now on their home planet, the crew sets out to discover where everyone has gone -- and how to get them back -- only to discover they may
not be as alone as they thought.

Parrish has a neat marketing campaign to promote his new novel. In addition to posting the first chapter of Offworld on his website, he has downloadable wallpaper and a book trailer posted on YouTube.

The August 2009 featured novel of the month of the Christian Science Fiction & Fantasy Blog Tour, Offworld was reviewed by a long list of bloggers, including writer and editor Rachel Starr Thomson, Jason Joyner of the blog Spoiled for the Ordinary, and Dona Watson of the blog Fantasy & Faith, as well as Timothy Taylor of Examiner.com.

Interested in reading an interview with author Robin Parrish? Check out this interview with Timothy Taylor of Examiner.com, or this interview with Julie of the blog My Own Little Corner of the World.

Almost forgot: You have a chance to win a copy of Robin Parrish's new novel Offworld if you can respond to Rachel Starr Thomson by Friday, August 28, 2009.

Pictured: Cover of Offworld, courtesy of Bethany House Publishers.

Orbit Books bypasses Mars en route to the “Most Awesomely Bad SFF Cover in the World”

Publisher Orbit Books has bypassed Mars and left Martian science fiction fans stranded en route to its “Most Awesomely Bad SFF Cover in the World.” Sifting through over 350 reader submissions for “the most ridiculously bad high-concept SFF book cover in the universe,” including more than
20 ideas that mention Mars or Martians, here are the five fictional book titles that Orbit will consider for its mock book cover:

• The Thing with the Glass Buttock

• Rise of the Fallen, Book Seven, The Pre-Antepenultimate Battle

• A Stain Upon The Vastness

• Across a Trembling Sea the Cyborg Fairies Dance

• An Old Dragon, A Dead Witch, and a Fat Guy: The Third Book of Stories that Go Nowhere

If you fancy any of these titles, vote for your favorite one using Orbit’s online poll. Once Orbit has settled on a title, they’ll work out the reading line, the blurbs, and the cover elements. Then, fans will have an opportunity to help Orbit design a mock cover for the fictional book.

Pictured: A word cloud for Orbit’s journey to the “Most Awesomely Bad SFF Cover in the World.” According to Annalee Newitz of the science fiction blog io9, Tanith Lee's 1980 novel Sabella has “liberal doses of love, vampires, Mars, and space.”

Fans flock to Mars for “Most Awesomely Bad SFF Cover in the World”

Publisher Orbit Books is asking fans for suggestions so it can create an especially bad, but entirely fictional, SFF book cover. If you’re interested, you have a couple of weeks to submit an idea for “the most ridiculously bad high-concept SFF book cover in the universe.” Once Orbit has picked a title, they’ll work out the reading line, the blurbs, and the cover elements. Then, fans will have an opportunity to help Orbit design a cover for the fictional book.

At the moment, 120 fans have submitted fictional book titles or plot concepts. As you can see from the following titles, fans have flocked to Mars and embraced Martians:

• He Left Me on Mars

• The Hobbits Go to Mars

• Invasion of the Massive Mosquito-pods from Mars!

• Mars Needs Fairies!

• Mars on $5 a Day

• Mars or Bust

• Martian in the Mirror

• Martian Sex Trap

• Martian Under the Doormat

• Martians are from Mars, Humans are from Earth: A Practical Guide for Improving Communication and Getting What You Want

• Motherf*ckers from Mars

• Planet of the Martian Ladies

• Revolt of the Martian Marmots, #6 in The Revolting series

• Speed-dating on Mars

• Tentacle Sex Fiends From Mars

• True Tales of Martian Wanderlust

• Wereturtles of Mars -- the Mutant Ninja Saga

• Winner Winner, Martian Dinner

• Witch Way to Mars

Pictured: Skyler White of the recent AMC television drama Breaking Bad. She is rumored to be one of the MILFs in the fictional SF novel Motherf*ckers from Mars.

Winners of Canada’s first national book-collecting contest not threatened by Kindle e-book reader

The Afterword, a books blog maintained by Canada’s National Post newspaper, has an awesome series of Q&A with the three winners of Canada’s first national book-collecting contest. The contest, which was seeking Canada's best book collectors under the age of thirty, was sponsored by The Bibliographical Society of Canada, the Antiquarian Booksellers of Association of Canada, and the Alcuin Society.

Charlotte Ashley won the contest and $2,500 for her collection
“The Works (and Quirks) of Alexandre Dumas pere.” Vanessa Brown finished in second place and won $1,000 for her collection “The L.M. Montgomery Collection in the Forest City.” Naseem Hrab finished in third place and won $1,000 for his collection “The Complexities of Ordinary Life: Autobiographical Comics and Graphic Novels.”

While each of these three collectors answered a series of fascinating questions (Do you remember the first book you ever bought? What's the oldest book in your collection? How'd you get into [author]?
What's your favorite of his/her books? How do you organize your books? What's the prized book in your collection? What's the one book or edition you still haven't added to the collection?) this was perhaps the most interesting question: "The Kindle and other e-book readers threaten to render book collections' obsolete. Do you
think you'll ever trade in your books for a Kindle?"

Here is how the three winners responded:

• Charlotte Ashley: “Ha! The Kindle might threaten new book publications, but it offers absolutely nothing to the collector. The collector values the form of the book; its age, binding, paper, rarity, provenance and place in history. An e-book has none of these things. Similarly, an art collector isn't about to give up all his paintings because he can download a .jpg.”

• Vanessa Brown: “I work at an antiquarian book store, and this topic is hot amongst the staff. On a recent trip to New York, I wished I had a Kindle for convenience. I'm a luddite usually, and it's just the electronic toy for me. It would be handy, and I'm attracted to all the free classic titles. But the Kindle only substitutes for a paperback. If it trims away the fat from book publishing, that's fine with me. People will still always want beautiful hardcovers and rare editions. The Kindle makes room for fine presses and encourages publishers to make books beautiful as objects unto themselves. No more of these crappy glued bindings, please! If the Kindle helps things move that way, I'm all for it. I kind've want one, so I can have all of Montgomery with me all the time. A good analogy is the way that music collectors still buy vinyl, and bands that aspire to making lasting contributions to music still issue vinyl for those collectors. No one worries that iPods will kill the collectible vinyl industry. It's the same thing with books.”

• Naseem Hrab: “If I read a lot of novels, I'd jump at the opportunity to get a Kindle. But I'm not sure that comics and graphic novels really lend themselves to e-book readers. There's something to be said for looking at illustrated books the way the authors and illustrators intended. So many graphic novels are simply beautiful objects and I'd hate to see them disappear.”

Giveaway: A copy of Liz Williams’ acclaimed 2008 novel Winterstrike

The book blog Unbound! is giving away a copy of Winterstrike (UK, 2008), a recent novel written by British SF&F author Liz Williams. Featuring the city
of Winterstrike on a colonized Mars, the novel made Amazon UK’s list of The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2008. Winterstrike has not yet been released in the United States, but the giveaway is open to fans of any country. The deadline for the giveaway is early morning, June 1, 2009 (GMT?). Sorry for such short notice, I got caught up in the aftermath of the Manchester United game.

Results of poll: Which tribute to author Edgar Rice Burroughs would you most like to see established?

Here are the results of the recent poll I conducted about which tribute to author Edgar Rice Burroughs fans would most like to see established:

• 37% of those who answered the question would most like to see an Edgar Rice Burroughs Award established, to be given annually to a SF novel.

• 25% would most like to see an Edgar Rice Burroughs Scholarship established, to be given annually to an aspiring SF writer to attend the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers' Workshop.

• 25% would most like to see an Edgar Rice Burroughs Foundation established, to provide annual grants to high school science teachers to create summer programs to help students understand the merits of sending a human mission to Mars.

• 12% would most like to see an Edgar Rice Burroughs Prize established, to provide a one-time prize to the first team of scientists that successfully creates a propulsion system capable of sending a spacecraft to Mars in less than 60 days.

Thanks to the 8 fans who participated in the poll. Perhaps the folks at Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. will show us the money!

Monumental prize for first team to reach summit of Olympus Mons

The Earth and Space Foundation, which funds expeditions that bridge the gap between Earth and space exploration, has created awards for future human expeditions on Mars, including one for the first team to reach the summit of Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in the Solar System and nearly three times as tall as Mount Everest.

According to the foundation’s website, the Olympus Mountaineering Award was established in 1994 and “The attempt on the summit of Mount Olympus must begin from the Tharsis plains surrounding the base of the volcano. No technological support, other than that required for life support and basic mountaineering, can be used. The team must reach the summit, which is here defined as the highest point on the caldera of Mount Olympus. Any route to the caldera, even given the low angle of ascent of much of the surface, is acceptable."

In a recent article at Space.com, Charles Cockell, a microbiologist at the Open University in the United Kingdom who helped found the Earth and Space Foundation, said: "For the summit of Olympus award, we have a piece of rock from the summit of Mount Everest and a plaque. We also put $10,000 into a high interest account, and the money will just sit there. In a hundred years time, when someone comes to claim it, the award will be substantial."

Interested in reading a neat piece of SF flash fiction about scaling Olympus Mons? Check out "The Elcano Syndrome" (2008), by Gustavo Bondoni, winner of the 2008 Marooned Award for Best Flash Fiction.