Join Lev Grossman and Me in Palo Alto June 18

If you have read Lev Grossman's The Magicians and its sequel, The Magician King, then there's a pretty good chance you will want to join us on Monday, June 18, at the Cubberley Theatre in Palo Alto, California. Grossman will be appearing there at our Commonwealth Club program, which begins at 7 p.m. I'll be moderating the event, but I'll be just as interested as you are to hear him talk about these books and his other work.

Grossman is Time's book critic and author of – besides the best-selling Magician books – Codex and Warp.

Get details on the event, and reserve your tickets!

If you haven't read those two books but you enjoy fantasy and science fiction, then I suggest in the next few weeks you buy them and read 'em. The Magicians has been described as "Narnia for adults" and "Hogwarts with sex and drugs," both of which sound a bit more sensationalist than the reality. But they are a fresh take on the fantasy/magic genre, and they deserve to go on your bookshelf next to Potter and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.

In the meantime, follow Grossman's blog. He is an open and entertaining writer, not afraid to be incredibly open and honest in his writings (such as his description of how he totally screwed up an interview with J.K. Rowling years ago).

Then come meet Grossman and say hello to me on June 18.

More Harry Potter – or Just Pottermore?

There's a new J.K. Rowling website, and no, no one knows what the heck it means.

Legendary Fantasy Artist Frank Frazetta, RIP

I just saw this story from USA Today that artist Frank Frazetta died today at the age of 82.

Manager Rob Pistella said, "He's going to be remembered as the most renowned fantasy illustrator of the 20th Century," and I don't think that's any understatement. Frazetta's work can be found on the covers of everything from Creepy to Epic Illustrated to Blazing Combat to the Japanese edition of Starlog to zillions of Conan magazines to Questar to ... the list is simply too long. His work was mythic, great, stirring, sexy, powerful, and inspiring.

Luckily, Frazetta's children recently ended a raucous and long-standing battle over who controls his very valuable collection of paintings, estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. I'm glad they were able to do it before it was too late.

Comics and Science Fiction, Part II: Strange Galaxy

I'm sure I'll be finding new examples of forgotten science fiction/fantasy comics magazines for months and years to come, but here's just one I neglected to include in my recent post on the topic: Strange Galaxy. I'd never even heard about it until 10 minutes ago, when I stumbled upon it on eBay through a serendipitous series of clicks that is too complicated to repeat here.

Needless to say, I've never seen the magazine in person, but I think we can guess its content from this cover:

Der Orchideengarten: First Fantasy Magazine?

Thanks to blogger I09 for a look at the first fantasy magazine. This magazine, started in 1919, demonstrates the incredible creativity and talent of the magazine, and it shows that science fiction and fantasy are not something owned by Americans.

The artwork is at once very identifiably inter-war central European, and at the same time it could be created by a 22-year-old New York or San Francisco cartoonist today. Great stuff. I'd love to get my hands on a copy.

For more great covers of Der Orchideengarten, see IO9's blog.

Economics of Periodicals Publishing: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

For six decades, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (F&SF) has published short fiction, and is well regarded as one of the finest of the SF publications. So, how does one react to the news that, starting with the April/May 2009 issue currently out, F&SF has reduced its frequency to bimonthly?

One reaction certainly is sadness at seeing a great old magazine come out less often. It's a treat for the reader to have a favorite magazine hit the mailbox or the newsstands every month, so any cutback leaves a feeling of emptiness.

Another reaction might well be happiness and relief that the magazine is still around; it hasn't given up the ghost; it's just reduced frequency and added pages. Yes, the digest-sized magazine now boasts 260 pages (including covers -- I always count covers; why not?). That's a lot of pages for its short stories, book reviews, contests, editorials, cartoons, and more.

A third reaction is probably a mix of the above two, and that's where I am.

In addition to its high-quality fiction, F&SF features occasional editorials by its perceptive publisher and editor, Gordon Van Gelder. In the current issue, he notes that print magazines offer something that the internet does not: the ability to present long-form articles and fiction.

...[W]hat (if anything) is lost in the switch from print to electronic media? Well, some might argue that the internet is not friendly to the long, thoughtful, carefully considered piece. In fact, I'm one who would make just such an argument. I find it hard to read anything online that's longer than 800 words or so. And when I'm communicating online, I rarely have the patience to write a long piece when I can dash off something and then get feedback for it almost immediately.

Good point. It's one I've more or less made here (and here and, with Hugh Hefner's help, here).

The technology that is moving readers and publishers to the internet and undercutting the business model of publishers is not all one-way, with only bad news for print magazine lovers. I've said before and I'll say again: The technology is already developing (and, with printer-makers' help, already in use in exciting ways) that will make it easier, not harder, for print publishers to launch new titles, revive dormant ones, and thrive in this world. It's the technology for printing and digitally distributing that are the newest game-changers, and it might just prove to be a savior for small magazines.

Whether those publishers put out their new online/print/digital hybrid magazines weekly, monthly, or bimonthly will increasingly be a matter of talent and timing, not postage and distributors costs.