News & Notes is a weekly Saturday post featuring book- and publishing-related news, links to interesting articles and opinion pieces, and other cool stuff
Book News
- In the #MeToo Moment, Publishers Turn to Morality Clauses (Publishers Weekly)
- University Presses Are Not In Crisis, and other news from the worlds of libraries and academia. (Publishers Weekly)
Worth Reading/Viewing
- In Praise of Childhood Favorites That Lose Their Magic (Laura Sackton, Book Riot)
Upcoming Books, Movies, & TV
- There’s a new Harry Potter mobile game! Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style game that lets you go to Hogwarts. (Pottermore) The script has been in development for 2 years, the graphics look awesome from the screenshots I’ve seen, and they even got some of the “faculty” actors back to do the voices. I’ll be honest, I teared up when I heard Prof. McGonagall’s voice telling me I’d been accepted at Hogwarts. That said, most of the dialog is text rather than recorded voices. (I haven’t gotten much further than getting supplies and being sorted. I’ve promised myself that when I finish the current backlog of work, I can start playing.) You can download the game from Apple’s App Store (iOS devices) or Google Play (Android devices.) There doesn’t seem to be a version for the Kindle Fire, though. Here are some reviews: Engadget, Polygon, The Guardian
- Bad news for G.R.R. Martin fans: the next book won’t be The Winds of Winter (Publishers Weekly) Instead, ASOIAF fans can look forward to Fire and Blood, a history set 300 years before the events in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Martin warns readers “Fire and Blood is not a novel. This is not a traditional narrative and was never intended to be…let’s call this one ‘imaginary history’ instead. The essential point being the ‘history’ part.” There’s more information at Tor.com.
Free SYNC Audiobooks
This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC are
- A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro. Performed by Graham Halstead and Julia Whelan.
- The Great War: Stories Inspired by Items From the First World War. Stories by David Almond, John Boyne, Tracy Chevalier, Ursula Dubosarsky, and Timothée de Fombelle. Read by Nico Evers-Swindell, JD Jackson, Gerard Doyle, Richard Halverson, Sarah Coomes, and Nick Podehl.
Awesome Lists
- The 50 Best Fantasy Books of the 21st Century (So Far) is that rare bird, a nearly-perfect list. Though I might quibble with the order of some of the books here, almost every book merits inclusion (based either on my own reading or that of friends or trusted reviewers.) And my number one pick is also theirs: Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. (Paste Magazine)
- 9 Fantasy Duos Bound By Fate (Natalie Zutter, Tor.com)
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review
I looove book lists, and I’ve drifted away from fantasy in the 21st century, so that one was a good guide as to what I might read if I take it up again. Name of the Wind would be high on my list.
Lory @ Emerald City Book Review recently posted…Blog break, and Elizabeth Goudge Day
Lark_Bookwyrm
The Name of the Wind is phenomenal. The writing blew me away. I should probably warn you that it’s the start of an as-yet-unfinished trilogy (we’re still waiting for book 3), and that the author has stated that the whole trilogy is basically a prequel for More To Come. Rothfuss doesn’t write fast, but he does write superlatively well. (Also, it’s a picaresque novel, possibly the first in the fantasy genre. Good stuff.)
RO
Hey There Lark, and hope all is well. I know the #MeToo Movement is a thing everywhere, and to put in morality clauses is a big step for publishers to make sure authors are on point. I hear mixed reviews on George Martin, and haven’t had chance to read any of his work yet.That 50 best fantasy book list sounds pretty neat. Great way to introduce new novels we haven’t heard about. I agree, and need my reading and tv time too.(lol) Hugs…and Happy Monday! RO
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Nicole
Fun stuff this week! Though I think I will end up getting stuck in the world of Hogwarts and will have a hard time putting that game down…
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