Jonathan Strahan on the Eclipse series

Jonathan Strahan has suggested earlier this year that this year's offering of Eclipse Three would mark the end of the Eclipse series, that he was done with it.

I had hoped he would change his mind because Eclipse One was an outstanding anthology and I expect to pick up Eclipse Two as part of the Night Shade sale, and I've been very much looking forward to Eclipse Three.

In today's post over at his blog, Strahan writes about his thoughts on the future of the series and THIS TIME he is saying he might not be done with it, that he is starting to feel revitalized.

Oh, I hope so, sir.

There aren't a lot of unthemed anthologies of original fiction out there, but in my mind, Eclipse is one of the two best (the other being Fast Forward), and I think we're all well served to have the series continue.

With any luck Strahan and Night Shade will work something out and continue this excellent series.

Vandermeer's Favorite Short Fiction Fantasists

Jeff Vandermeer just posted his list of favorite short fiction fantasists. All women.

Vandermeer's post was more in light of the Tin House: Fantastic Women issue as well as his reading for Best American Fantasy, but I see it also in relation to Eclipse Two.

After making a list of women who were NOT to be on the list, Vandermeer then goes on to list twenty three MORE women who are talented writers.

And I wonder: How the hell did Strahan only manage to include ONE woman when Vandermeer lists 36 and didn't include novelists?

Sometimes stuff don't make sense.

One Woman? Really?

I thought Eclipse One, edited by Jonathan Strahan and published by Night Shade Books was a great anthology. Not quite as full as awesome as, say, Fast Forward 1, it was still a damn solid anthology and I enjoyed reading it. So much so that I looked forward to Volume Two.

Then I saw the table of contents posted over at SF Signal.

I remember the debate last year regarding the lack of female names on the cover Eclipse One (despite women making up nearly half of the anthology). The debate is summed up here and is wrapped up in regards to a panel at Wiscon.

The table of contents is nearly final, with one left to be determined, but here is the list courtesy of Strahan's website.

1. The Hero, Karl Schroeder
2. Turing’s Apples, Stephen Baxter
3. Invisible Empire of Ascending Light, Ken Scholes
4. Michael Laurits is: Drowning, Paul Cornell
5. Elevator, Nancy Kress
6. The Illustrated Biography of Lord Grimm, Daryl Gregory
7. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, David Moles
8. The Rabbi’s Hobby, Peter S. Beagle
9. The Seventh Expression of the Robot General, Jeffrey Ford
10. Skin Deep, Richard Parks
11. Ex Cathedra, Tony Daniel
12. Truth Window: A Tale of the Bedlam Rose, Terry Dowling
13. We Haven’t Got There Yet, Harry Turtledove
14. Fury, Alastair Reynolds

Now, I'm willing to accept that I may be missing androgynous names here, but I checked and Terry Dowling is male.

One woman? Seriously.

Think that argument last year was rough?

One woman? I'm not sure how that happens. You'd think accidentally Strahan would have selected a second woman. Like, by mistake and all.

Ouch.

That's embarrassing. I'm sure each of the stories are great and all, but I'm going to have a difficult time looking at Eclipse Two and not consider the fact that only woman was included. Conscious decision or blind selection / submission process, it's a slap in the face.