Over the years, any anthology Edited by George R.R. Martin has been guaranteed to attract big names. His latest, Dangerous Women, featured an incredible list of bestselling SFF authors, including Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie, Jim Butcher, Diana Gabaldon, Lev Grossman, Sherilynn Kenyon, Lawrence Block, Carrie Vaughn, S. M. Stirling, Sharon Kay Penman, and many others besides. Typically, Martin has left a large gap between anthologies, but it seems that having another editor by his side, Gardner Dozois, has sped up the process and his next anthology, Rogues, will be published on June 17th 2014 – just 6 months after the last behemoth!
I guess you can’t release two anthologies in a single year unless you are able to honestly say ‘this one is going to be bigger and better’ and, judging by the assembled cast, it seems Martin & Dozois can say just that. Names include: Patrick Rothfuss, Daniel Abraham, Cherie Priest, Lisa Tuttle, Scott Lynch, Neil Gaiman, and Joe Abercrombie. I guess, if we have to make one complaint about this anthology it is that there is a real lack of women (Robin Hobb seems a logical choice for this anthology? Gail Z Martin? Trudi Canavan? Rachel Aaron?), but I guess we don’t know who was asked; just who accepted.
Here is the current line-up for Rogues (notice that a new story, “The Rogue Prince, or, the King’s Brother”, has been added – more on that in a sec):
- George R.R. Martin “Everybody Loves a Rogue” (Introduction)
- Joe Abercrombie “Tough Times All Over”
- Gillian Flynn “What Do You Do?”
- Matthew Hughes “The Inn of the Seven Blessings”
- Joe R. Lansdale “Bent Twig”
- Michael Swanwick “Tawny Petticoats”
- David Ball “Provenance”
- Carrie Vaughn “The Roaring Twenties”
- Scott Lynch “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane”
- Bradley Denton “Bad Brass”
- Cherie Priest “Heavy Metal”
- Daniel Abraham “The Meaning of Love”
- Paul Cornell “A Better Way to Die”
- Steven Saylor “Ill Seen in Tyre”
- Garth Nix “A Cargo of Ivories”
- Walter Jon Williams “Diamonds From Tequila”
- Phyllis Eisenstein “The Caravan to Nowhere”
- Lisa Tuttle “The Curious Affair of the Dead Wives”
- Neil Gaiman “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”
- Connie Willis “Now Showing”
- Patrick Rothfuss “The Lightning Tree”
- George R. R. Martin “The Rogue Prince, or, the King’s Brother”
This new story by George R.R. Martin is another side tale from A Song of Ice & Fire. In this tale, Westeros fans will be told the story of the years leading up to the calamitious events of ‘The Princess and the Queen’ (a short story printed in Dangerous Women) during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, with particular attention to the role played by the king’s brother, Prince Daemon, a rogue if there ever was one. Although unlikely to stop readers’ pleas for book 6, it is appreciated by the majority that Martin is continuing to build his world around the pivotal characters and even revisiting ones we thought long lost.
What does Martin himself think of the anthology? Well, he says: “This one was an enormous amount of fun. We’re got something for everyone in Rogues … SF, mystery, historical fiction, epic fantasy, sword and sorcery, comedy, tragedy, crime stories, mainstream. And rogues, cads, scalawags, con men, thieves, and scoundrels of all descriptions. If you love Harry Flashman and Cugel the Clever, as I do, this is the book for you.” We don’t know whether any of the stories from Dangerous Women have been nominated for any of the big SFF awards yet, it is too early, but Martin added of Rogues that: “If there’s any bloody justice, some of these stories will contend for awards.”
Jennie Ivins
maybe george should stop with the editing of collections and finish ice and fire. he will die before finishing otherwise. he is in his sixties and overweight!