Following the release of the Hugo Ballot recently, Grant Watson provided a list of other graphic stories he felt should or could have been consisdered for the Best Graphic Story category.

One of the titles he suggested was Lazarus, a darkly dystopian science fiction series set in a not-too-distant future United States, by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark.

The setup for the series describes it as being set in a world divided by financial boundaries, rather than be political or geographic ones. Wealth equals power and that wealth is controlled by a series of oligarchical families, who are often at war with one another.

If you are not a Family member then you are one of the few serfs who work for them.  And if you’re not a serf, you’re Waste, one of the countless millions with little or no hope in life. And life is cold out in the Waste. Each Family has a Lazarus, a person genetically modified and trained from birth to defend the Family.  They have every advantage – technical, financial, scientific – that can be bestowed on them.

Lazarus is the story of Forever Caryle, the Lazarus for Family Carlyle. Her life is an unrelenting tale of duty, honour, sacrifice, all to advantage the family and control the Waste.

In the eight issues I’ve read so far, inhaled over the past week, the art has been brilliant and the story compulsive. If I’d read this last year the first story arc would have topped my Hugo ballot, and the second story arc will definitely be there in 2015.

If you have any interest in great graphic stories, especially SF ones, this comes heartily recommended.

 

I edit The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year anthology series for Solaris Books. The eighth volume in the series will be published in May 2014, and the ninth will appear in May 2015.

I am currently reading for the 2014 volume, and am looking for stories from all branches of science fiction and fantasy: space opera to cyberpunk, fairy tales to the slipstream, or anything else that might qualify. If in doubt, please send it.

Eligibility

This is a reprint anthology. Stories must have been published between 1 January and 31 December 2014 to be considered.

Deadline

The submission deadline for this year’s book is:

 15 October 2014

Anything sent after this deadline will reach me too late. If a magazine, anthology, or collection you are in or you edit is coming out before 31 December 2014 please send galleys or manuscripts so that I can consider the stories in time.

Format

Where possible, I prefer to receive book-length works in print., but this is optional.  Books, stories etc can be sent to me via email. I prefer ePub, .mobi, .rtf or .doc files. PDFs are acceptable but inconvenient. I strongly suggest that authors check with their publishers that they are sending review copies out to me, as I don’t have the resources to follow-up every publisher to get material.

Postal address

When sending material please put “Best SF/F of the Year” on the envelope.

Jonathan Strahan
PO Box 544
Mt Lawley WA 6929
Australia

Email submissions, recommendations, or information on publications can be sent to me via email at:

jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com

For publishers

• I am eager to consider work you are publishing. If you produce a magazine, chapbook, collection or anthology with any original stories in it please let me know. I am happy to accept email submissions. The most important thing is to make sure that I get to consider the best science fiction and fantasy published during 2014.
• If you are publishing online please email copies of stories to jonathan.strahan (at) gmail (dot) com as early as possible. This is particularly important for stories published between October and December which may otherwise be overlooked.

For writers

• I do not need to receive manuscripts from authors of stories from venues that it’s likely I already receive regularly (I get , Analog, F&SF, Interzone, Black Static, Postscripts etc, but not many of the smaller ‘zines and publications).
• Please do not send an SASE. This is not a submission, and I’m unable to return manuscripts or respond directly to stories sent to me.
• If I am considering your story for inclusion in  The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, I will be acquiring non-exclusive World anthology rights in English and foreign languages in print, audio and ebook.