Today we've got a special guest blog from editrix extraordinaire, Diana Gill, of Out of this Eos. Many of us are overwhelmed by the amount of offerings in sci-fi/fantasy, but Diana is here to give us a great introductory course in the genre. Sherecently presented upcoming Eos titles at the New York Public Library--her full presentation can be found here: Download Book Buzz Eos.
Without further ado, here she is!
"A couple of weeks ago I presented current and upcoming Eos titles (science fiction, fantasy, urban and supernatural fantasy) to a group of approximately 40 NYC librarians in an SF Book Buzz panel, along with editors and marketing people from Del Rey and Macmillan. It was my first time presenting to librarians (versus, say, fans at conventions), and I had a blast.
I talked about both some recent Eos titles and about our upcoming Winter ’10 list, which includes titles from Robin Hobb, Kim Harrison, and Raymond E. Feist, among others. Afterwards, we offered each librarian a choice of one of several Eos titles, from science fiction to epic fantasy to urban/supernatural fantasy. The most titles most requested were SANDMAN SLIMby Richard Kadrey, Brom’s dark retelling of Peter Pan, THE CHILD THIEF, and Margaret Ronald’s urban fantasy SPIRAL HUNT. Several people were interested trying sf/f, and not sure where to start.
Urban fantasy (and its cousin paranormal romance) is the easiest gateway to the genre—since it takes place in a world that is very much our own, only with magic. Not coincidentally, it’s also the hottest thing going, between the phenomenon that is Stephenie Meyers' Twilight saga to the incredibly popular True Blood tv series. Urban fantasies are an easy way for readers to try the genre, and there are a lot of great ones out there.
