TONIGHT, I'll be doing a virtual reading from City Under the Stars, which is Gardner Dozois' last novel, co-written by Yours Truly.
The event starts at 7:00 p.m., New York City time and ends at 8:30. There will be a reading, the usual badinage, some questions and answers (probably) and even some sentimental rambling about what a swell guy Gardner was (almost certainly).
Michael Swanwick/(channeling) Gardner Dozois
Tuesday, September 9, 2020
7:00 p.m.
Here's what hosts Jim Freund and Barbara Krasnoff have to say about the event:
This reading marks the beginning of our 30th Season! Sadly, we cannot all join together for a fete, but over the course of time, we'll figure something out. We wish to experiment with simulcasting the reading on our traditional home here on Facebook.
On Tor.com, Michael Swanwick wrote: "Almost a quarter century ago, Gardner Dozois and I published “The City of God,” now the first half of this novel. It ended with a slam, seemingly precluding any sequels. But over the decades Gardner and I talked over what might come next. We planned to write two more novellas, “The City of Angels” and “The City of Men,” which would tell one long, complete story. One with a happy ending.
Don’t laugh.
Yes, Gardner could be a bleak writer. Yes, the novella was dark even for him. But he had an uplifting idea for how the book would end. We discussed it often. We were midway through the second novella and aiming at that happy ending when, without warning, Gardner died.
I knew I would never write that third novella without his input, his genius. Nevertheless I wanted the world to see this genuinely happy ending. So I changed the direction of the work in progress, combined both novellas, divided them into chapters, and made of them a novel I think Gardner would have been pleased with.
The ending is exactly what Gardner envisioned all those decades ago. A happy one. For everyone.
When I wrote the last words of it, I cried." --
Michael Swanwick has received the Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, World Fantasy and Hugo Awards, and has the pleasant distinction of having been nominated for and lost more of these same awards than any other writer. He has written ten novels, over a hundred and fifty short stories, and countless works of flash fiction. His latest novel The Iron Dragon’s Mother, was recently published by Tor Books.
He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Marianne Porter.
Gardner Dozois was one of the most important editors in the history of science-fiction. His editorial work earned more than 40 Hugo Awards, 40 Nebula Awards, and 30 Locus Awards, and he was awarded the Hugo for Best Professional Editor fifteen times between 1988 and his retirement from Asimov’s in 2004, having edited the magazine for 20 years! He also served as the editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction anthologies and co-editor of the Warrior anthologies, Songs of the Dying Earth, and many others. As a writer, Dozois twice won the Nebula Award for best short story. He was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2011 and received the Skylark Award for Lifetime Achievement. *
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