Editor Lou Anders is a busy guy. Lately, he’s been doing the internet rounds for not one but two recently released anthologies. The first, Swords & Dark Magic: The New Sword and Sorcery, co-edited with Jonathan Strahan, includes stories by the likes of Gene Wolfe, Steven Erickson, and Scott Lynch, as well as former guests to this blog James Enge, Glen Cook, Michael Moorcock and Joe Abercrombie (How’s that for a partial line-up?!). The second, Masked, is a collection of original superhero fiction that, like Swords & Dark Magic before it, has been receiving a fair amount of positive buzz. And what I’ve found particularly pleasing about the initial feedback is that, so far, the anthology has appealed to both comic fans and neophytes alike. I think that says as much about the quality of the stories as it does Lou’s ability to assemble and guide some very talented people. Though I suppose it should come as no surprise given that Lou, who is the editorial director of the SF&F imprint PYR Books, is a four time Hugo Award nominee for Best Editor and a Chelsea Award Winning Art Director. He’s also been nominated for the PKD and WFC Awards and presently has nine anthologies to his credit.
I invited Lou to come by, give us an intro to Masked, and offer a little insight into what led him to put together this unique anthology. Lou offered up the following thoughts…
Hello wonderful fans of Joe. It’s good to be back on this blog. As I sit here, very slowly nursing a Newcastle (“for inspiration”), I’m trying to think what I can say about Masked that is different from what I’ve already said. I’ve been thrilled–and deeply grateful–for the amount of attention Masked has been getting since it debuted. There was almost no pre-buzz on this anthology, and I was worried it was going to be missed, that it would be passed over by SF&F fans and never noticed by comic fans who didn’t venture into SF&F shelves. But from the moment it debuted–at the San Diego Comic Con no less–the interweebs have been quite vocal about it, with multiple new reviews showing up every day and a lot of requests for interviews (one from the Wall Street Journal’s blog, no less). We’ve had a couple producers call requesting copies, done a “soundtrack” feature on largehearted boy, and been praised very enthusiastically on io9. I think that the anthology is really striking a chord with people, and that I was more right than I knew when I wrote in the intro that superheroes were coming into their own in a way they never had before. Not that sophisticated storytelling was anything new for the genre–it’s been around a quarter century since The Dark Knight Returns debuted–but the mainstream acceptance of superheroes has never been higher, as evidenced by the critical-and-box office success of films like The Dark Knight. I’ve been reading comic books since I could read (I have Batman and Detective comics going back to the 50s, though FYI I wasn’t around when they came out), and I think that’s part of it–that the generation that grew up on geek culture is now calling the shots in entertainment as well as being catered to by that entertainment. There have been many attempts to do superheroes in prose over the years (I have the The Further Adventures of the Joker anthology lying around somewhere), but a lot of them have been done in the spirit of camp, outsiders poking fun at the genre, or taking a post-modern, ironic spin on it. I didn’t want to do superheroes with a wink and a nudge. Rather, I wanted Masked to be the kind of book that current readers of DC/Vertigo, Marvel, Dark Horse, Image, et al. would recognize and appreciate, and for that, I turned to the people who actually write comics, plus a few award-winning SF&F author, and one television producer (whose first-ever prose story is so staggeringly good that it will be a sin against god, the future, and the English language itself if he never writes another). And I think that’s the real reason that Masked is getting the attention it is. The calibre of the contributors and the level of talent they bring to its pages. I’m just the guy who cajoled them all into one volume, they did all the heavy lifting. And for that, I’m really, truly grateful. Because they are a super bunch.
And, to cap it off, yet another Masked review: http://superheronovels.com/2010/08/06/welcome-to-the-new-golden-age/
For more of Lou, head on over to www.louanders.com
Another pic from Stargate: Universe season one that hints at things to come in season two…
And continuing our trip down memory lane, we turn to the Atlantis archives…
Well, I should have four solid acts of my script, The Hunt, completed by the time I head back into the office on Monday. Since I’ll be on set for most of the week, surveying the action on episode #9, Visitation, I’ll have plenty of time to re-read, polish, and forge ahead into that fifth and final act. I like what I have so far and I’ve always been partial to these types of stories with various intersecting throughlines running on parallel thematic narratives. It also offers some wonderful insight into a number of different characters (even a few you wouldn’t expect!). The location shoot should be tons of fun…
1/The origin of the evolution of goauld is another mystery,
Have they really discovered on their own initiative how to travel by the gate (It is very difficult to compose an address in the good order knowing that it has 7 symbols, without counting the fact that some would correspond to no planet)?
2/Nox was left of quoted in SG1 contrary to asgards,
Will reinstate them you one day in one of your movies or in SGU?
3/We see in one of the episodes of SG1 that some asgards stayed under their original shape (cf 5X22)
is it possible that like the asgards of pégase, several factions not agreeing with the program of cloning exile themselves ?
We know that the ancients put in by drones possess beams of plasma as weapon.
will they put in evidence in your next movie of stargate atlantis
Thanks for posting the photos – I surely did not like Brainstorm as an ep, but the BTS scenes are cute!
Dave Foley seems like a nice guy….
Recently saw Jewel on Warehouse 13 with Sean Maher, her “love interest” in Firefly…..it was great to see them together again…
Also just saw Kavan on last week’s ep of Eureka….
I just finished “Android’s Dream” Although I enjoyed it, I liked “Old Man’s War” better. There were so many characters, I found I had to reread sometimes.
Also the copy of my book was poorly printed. There were lots of repeated parts of sentences, repeated parts of sentences (i.e) and the type was off….some of the pages, the sentences went right up to the end of the page, with a large margin near the spine….
Thanks for all theses SGU teasers. Keep them coming. 🙂 And thanks for the SGA pics as well, though it does make me depressed. 🙁
I went back to read your blog from the cancelation of atlantis(almost 2 years now) and I just got sad again. No clue why I went to read it in the first place, it was an idiot move.
“Even though I see a lot of anger directed at both MGM and Sci Fi, the fact is we couldn’t have done it without their support. And we’re going to count on that support as Atlantis continues its adventures as a movie franchise.”
And how did that work out?
Im not mad about the delay. Its a bummer for sure, but the past is the past. Im mad about the prospect that the atlantis movie was certainly happening, and now its a big if.
I know this might seem a bit straightforward, but do you think next time you talk to MGM could you see where they stand on Stargate Extinction. I know they have money problems, and theres nothing we can do about it, but it would at least be reassuring to know MGM still has a desire to fund Extinction. It would mean a lot to me. 🙂
Also, is Martin Wood still directing Revolution? (Hes heavily involved in 2 shows now).
Well… I go back to school in about a week so hopefully itll take my mind off the movies. 🙂 I really need to stop thinking about the movies, im wishing away years of my life just so I can get closer to the movies, but I have to ask myself, is 3 hours of entertainment really worth it. 🙁
Thanks so much,
Major D. Davis
Damn. now I have got to get out and pick up that other anthology, the one you didn’t contribute to. (maybe next time?) Mr. Ander’s drop by is appreciated, and I really really wish we were doing the BotM club on Masked sooner than later.
That sigh you heard is one of utter geek contentment. Billy Nye and deGrasse Tyson. Atlantis pics. And word you’ve almost got the script done. Given the title, I’m working hard to suppress my curiosity on that episode, not very successfully. If only you had a better track record of giving out good spoilers…. thanks for the daily dose and here’s hoping your weekend culinary adventures turn out well.
Gosh I got to stop living in the past. When I start to let my thoughts go its hard to reign them in. Sorry for that. 🙂
Overall im starting to feel better, and with school starting up soon, im sure ill be back to my cheerful self sometime soon. 🙂
Not saying I don’t agree with what I wrote, cause I do, but posting it every other entry doesn’t help. lol
I’m now a big fan of Dave Foley as well! He seems like an amazing person! 😀 😀 😀
Thanks for the SGA pix! I dearly love that show and the pix make me super happy! 😀
Hey Joe, what’s the name of the actress who plays Eli’s …female friend… this season? (Or is that a secret?)
I am super excited to find out what adventures S2 has in store for us…especially that little subplot 🙂
Thanks for coming by Lou. I’ve got both anthologies. Finished Swords and Dark Magic last week and will start Masked this weekend. Masked better be great because SDM is going to be hard to beat. 🙂
Oh, Joooooo-EEEEEEYYYYYY!
I just got in from a really looooooong day and my feet are killing me…like two raw, throbbing sirloin steaks at the end of my legs. So, can ya gimme a footsie rub, pretty pleeeeeeaaaase????
😀
NItes!
*falls into bed with clothes still on*
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…
das
Hi Joe, thanks for the pics, I really liked “Brainstorm”. So, like, if I’m having a lousy day (which I am), could you post a couple of pics of Daniel Jackson tomorrow, or does Das get all the perks? Pretty please? Have a good night, and do tell us how Jelly is doing!
Hey, Lou, how do you go about putting together such a great bunch of writers? Okay, okay. I’ll wait for the book discussion to ask. But thanks for the intro. I’m two stories in and Masked its shaping up to be a great collection. I look forward to picking your brain in September.
Thank you for the SGA pics.
Been meaning to thank you also for all the book info this blog gives. I’m reading again, which is a very good thing. It’s limited at this point to what I can get from the library, but there are enough ideas available here I can usually come up with something good. Now, if the library would get Masked… I *have* requested it.
Hi Joe,
Great guest, great show-n-tell. You are always a class act. Thank you for the time you share with us.
Always,
Cheryl 🙂
G’day Joe
If I ever find ‘Masked’ in my local bookstore I shall pick it up.
As much as I enjoy the pics of Atlantis and crave spoilers for Universe I would love some BTS pics of the good people from SG-1.
PLEASE……….. with foie gras on top.
Janet
Maybe one for the mailbag, but if its in the works, I’m sure you’ll deny it 😉
I’ve been noticing a lot of cross-overs between seemingly unrelated series on SyFy lately (Warehouse 13 with Eureka, et cetera).
Any non-Stargate Cross-overs in the works (Carter or McKay on Eureka maybe?)
Okay, you can all start laughing now…crazy thought; time to head to bed.
Hi Mr M!
Great intro by Lou. He’s a class act. (We swop the odd tweet over on Twitter).
Speaking of Dave Foley and signing things, it struck me that perhaps a goodie/giftie somewhere down the line could be a copy of Masked, signed by ALL the contributors and Lou?
I know that’d be hard to set up, given that they are scattered around the US/Canada, but what think you?
Also, glad to see mention of Re-Fuel. You haven’t been there for ages! Also glad to hear Tom and Rob are keeping well.
I hope to get back to Vancouver next June, so tell ’em keep a table.
Speaking of which, you might be aware that RDA is holding a charity convention in town this weekend. (Meet the Man) It’s being run by those very fine folks at GABIT.
You can tell Refuel, Don Francesco’s and Viji’s to expect more SG fans…I’m sending them their way.
I have just two more stories to read in Masked.
Best to all
S’n’T
Hey, Joe!
What were some of your favorite comic titles/characters you read while growing up? Any particular story or character you remember reading as a kid that loosely inspired a plot idea or character in the Stargate world?
Thanks. Take care!
Hello Joe I’m really looking forward to season 2 of the universe I hope this season will be a super lot of shooting and kasmicheskih battle. and what is your email address, say, Joe but you need writers for the episodes of the universe?
Before Atlantis, I think the only Dave Foley roles that stood out to me were his ones in Toy Story 2 and A bugs life. I must admit I kinda like some of the CG Dixar films, and he did pretty good in the roles he was given (Flik the ant in both). I haven’t watch probably 90 percent of the stuff he’s appeared in, but as he did a good job on Atlantis, it’s all good.
Anyway speaking of Brain Storm, I loved that episode to no end, not only because it was a Mckay episode, but also because it touches on some real world issues aka Global warming, and really shows Mckays strength of character, even when he was put down, it never really kept him down, not to mention his Keller moments.
@Das. be careful who you mention steak around. My stomach was growling before you I read your post, and now I have this horrid picture of a foot shaped steak on the grill….
I really enjoy “Faith”, “Human” all of “Air” but “LIFE” for some reason is my favorite. You see that while Wray tries to act the part Sharon is the strength of the two.
Re-watching season 1.
We’ve been arguing the past few days with the family on the proper way to write Naquadah and Naquadria. I think it’s written like that, family members vary from Nahqdah, Nahqadriah, and everything in between.
How are Naquadah and Naquadria written?
That was nice of Dave Foley to do, and Brainstorm was a brilliant episode (sucking the excess heat into another universe for crying out loud!).
For the mailbag, when writing have you ever actually said “Eureka” when you’ve figured out how to start/end a scene or story?
@imadaman I believe it is Naquadah and Naquadria respectively.
Hi Joe,
Re:
“Sean D. writes: “Hi Joe, can you make those videos available in another format or through another source?”
Answer: Hey, Sean – when I have time, I’ll upload them to youtube. I’ll keep you posted.”
Any chances to upload the pineapple diaries (Louis’ q&a) to youtube (or an alternate source/format) yet?
Thanks!
Sean
Joe, thank you! You know what for 😉
*hugs*
Joe……..FYI…check out the cover image of the
new issue of Time Magazine.
Looks a lot like your adorable Maximus.
(…I’d link….but there’s no links allowed in the comments
and I don’t have your email address handy.)
Just plug “time mag current issue” into a google
search…it can be seen right on the mainpage.
“Brainstorm”!! I just saw that, and I LOVED it. Hilarious! And Martin Gero is such a raging cutie-pie. Just makes me want to PINCH HIS CHEEKS.
Also: “Sabotage” is my favorite SGU ep so far (though “Time” comes in a close second). Rush is my favorite character, so I expected to be jealous of Amanda, but I really liked her.
Thanks for brightening my day, Joe!