Vampires – John Joseph Adams

Tag: Vampires

Anthologies are Like a Box of Chocolates, and Apparently, I’m Willy Wonka

Reviewer Paul Goat Allen seems to be my biggest fan. In his recent blog post for Barnes & Noble’s BN.com, “The Candy Man Can: Or Why John Joseph Adams is Genre Fiction’s Willy Wonka,” he said so many kind things about me and my anthologies you’d think he was on the Night Shade payroll.

Here’s a taste:

“The reigning king of the anthology world is John Joseph Adams.”
“Every anthology this guy is associated with seems to turn to gold: and by gold I mean jaw-droppingly brilliant anthologies with no weak links that I’ll not only read again and again but treasure until the day I die.”
“[Wastelands] is arguably my favorite anthology of all time – just packed with speculative masterworks.”
The Living Dead was, simply put, the best collection of zombie fiction stories ever collected. … This anthology is, like Wastelands, one of my all-time favorite short story collections. Fans of zombie fiction shouldn’t just read this anthology – they should own it.”
“By Blood We Live [is] a killer collection of simply stellar vampire stories that just floored me from beginning to end. … Yet another masterful – dare I say perfect – anthology.”

And as if that wasn’t cool enough for one day, Allen’s article also inspired some…fan art?

Some New Reviews

The Sacramento Book Review reviews Federations:

“For this anthology of twenty-four stories, editor John Joseph Adams tasked some of the brightest luminaries of speculative fiction to write stories of vast, galaxy-spanning empires and the people that live in them. … By mixing writers with great experience in with newer authors, Adams captures both the feel of the old pulp magazines and the practical elements of the ever-changing science of astronomy and space travel. … Editor Adams has collected both the finest writers and their finest tales in the definitive volume of vast, epic, interstellar Federations.”

Bibliophile Stalker reviews Federations:

“It’s a testament to the strength of the editor when a mixed anthology–one that features both reprints and original stories–features a consistent selection that one has trouble discerning which is which (or ceases to care about identifying them). Federations is one of those anthologies where I open the book and each story is a treat. … Federations is an accessible science fiction anthology and features both recognizable and refreshing elements of the genre. … [O]ne of the more enjoyable books I’ve encountered in quite some time”

BookPage Magazine reviews By Blood We Live:

“More than anything, this anthology demonstrates that the vampire is not only undead but mutable, and in the best writers’ hands, a tool for analyzing our mortal frailty and resilience in the teeth of unadulterated evil and unimaginable love.”

By Blood We Live (my vampire anthology)

Just a note about my vampire anthology, By Blood We Live. My agent just now announced the deal, which in fact had been agreed to long ago, but was only just finalized now due to some paperwork delays. In any case, I’m still putting the book together, so if I’ve been in contact with you about a story reprint, this announcement shouldn’t lead you to any conclusions about my decision. I’ve decided on several stories already, but there’s still lots of room in the book to fill, so it’s still very much a work in progress.

Vampire Reprint Anthology

Hot on the heels of my announcement that I’ll be editing a reprint anthology of dystopian fiction for Night Shade Books, I’m happy to announce that I’ll also be editing a reprint anthology of vampire fiction for them. It’s tentatively scheduled for publication in late 2009, so my deadline for recommendations would be around September 1, 2008, though the sooner the better. As with my previous reprint anthology projects, to assist me in assembling this volume, I’ve setup a database to solicit recommendations from readers and writers of vampire fiction.

I’ve got the entry form duplicated on a page here on my blog, but the homepage for the database can be found at johnjosephadams.com/vampires.htm, so if you’re going to spread word of the database (and please do!) please use that URL. Meanwhile, the spreadsheet displaying the recommendations can be viewed at johnjosephadams.com/vampires2.htm.

BTW, it doesn’t have a title or even a tentative title yet, so if you want to suggest one of those too, feel free!