A Book I'm Actually Looking Forward To

Blogging and reviewing can be a quick trip into cynicism -- if there's anything left to become cynical about after a few years in the publishing salt-mines. Most books look like widgets after a while -- they fill a particular hole in the market, and are interesting/useful/demanded by a particular kind of audience, but getting excited about books doesn't happen all that often.

But it does still happen, once in a while. And I'm already eager to read Swords and Dark Magic, an anthology edited by Jonathan Strahan and Lou Anders that has the following very impressive-looking line-up:

Introduction, Lou Anders & Jonathan Strahan

“Goats of Glory”, Steven Erikson

“Tides Elba: A Tale of the Black Company”, Glen Cook

“Bloodsport”, Gene Wolfe

“The Singing Spear”, James Enge

“A Wizard of Wiscezan”, C.J. Cherryh

“A Rich Full Week”, K. J. Parker

“A Suitable Present for a Sorcerous Puppet”, Garth Nix

“Red Pearls: An Elric Story”, Michael Moorcock

“The Deification of Dal Bamore”, Tim Lebbon

“Dark Times at the Midnight Market”, Robert Silverberg

“The Undefiled”, Greg Keyes

“Dapple Hew the Tint Master”, Michael Shea

“In the Stacks”, Scott Lynch

“Two Lions, A Witch, and the War-Robe”, Tanith Lee

“The Sea Troll’s Daughter”, Caitlin R Kiernan

“Thieves of Daring”, Bill Willingham

“The Fool Jobs”, Joe Abercrombie

I cut my SFF teeth on swords & sorcery, and have wished for more of it for the past two decades. And those are some damn fine writers, curated by two excellent editors whose taste I trust. It's coming from Harper sometime next year, which means I have some time to figure out what publicist I need to start hounding for an advance copy....