The Witch Who Came In From The Cold

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You may remember that some time back I wrote a guest episode for the first season of the serial novel, The Witch Who Came in from the Cold. This is one of several works published by Serial Box, which sold by subscription after the TV model: Every week a new episode, satisfying in its own right but moving the overall story arc forward. The first season ended and, in the ripeness of time it has been collected in book form with a June publication date by Saga.

Well, the book just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. Here it is:

Magic is real and neutrality is almost unheard of in this innovative spy thriller set in Cold War–era Prague. Two factions of covert operatives, Flame and Ice, are competing for the fate of the world via control of 36 unwitting people, known as Hosts, who are channels of elemental magic. The hefty book is divided into 13 novella-length episodes (originally serialized on the Serial Box website), each written by one or two of the five collaborating writers; the team manages an impressively cohesive effort, brilliantly conceptualized and executed. As in a TV drama, each episode has a satisfying and relatively complete arc that helps build upon an overarching story. The installments are easy to read one at a time, but the tangles of alliances, secrets, and shocking double-crosses will have readers up all night mumbling, “Just one more.” 

Which makes this a particularly good time to mention the  upcoming New York Review of Science Fiction Readings event, An Evening With Serial Box. Featuring:

Matthew Cody
Joel Derfner
Max Gladstone
Ellen Kushner
Lindsay Smith
Michael Swanwick

And Guest Curator Amy Goldschlager

Here's the official boilerplate:

Come meet the writers who are bringing genre to the forefront of digital publishing! Serial Box is a publisher of serialized fiction in text and audio with five current ongoing series. As with television, their serials are collaboratively written by author teams. On May 2nd, representatives from several of these "Writers' Rooms" will join us to read from their projects. With stories touching upon Urban Fantasy, Mannerpunk, Magical Espionage, and Young Adult Science Fiction, the evening will be a diverse showcase of one of today's most exciting publishing platforms.

That's:

May 2

7 p.m.

The Booklyn Commons

388 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, New York

I honestly expect this one to be a tremendous amount of fun.

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