The Witcher, Tamora Pierce, and His Dark Materials!

plus The World Fantasy Award Winners To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( MAGIC & MYTH [Five Books About Artists and the Magic of Creativity]( Magic and art, myth and creativity. Part of why they go so beautifully together in stories is because it’s often hard to tell the difference. Poet or wizard? Musician or changeling? Spell or song? Author Maggie Stiefvater dissects five books where art and magic meet, including favorites by Diana Wynne Jones and Emily St. John Mandel. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( DON'T BLINK [Ten WTF-Did-I-Just-Watch? TV Episodes]( There’s no doubt that we’re in the golden age of television. Whether you marathon an entire series or kick it old school and opt for a weekly fix, there is something eminently reassuring in being able to return to the same cast of characters and the same familiar, well-established scenario. But sometimes the creators throw us for a loop and slip in an episode that’s completely unlike any other--Dan Persons discusses ten truly iconic examples, from shows like Buffy and Black Mirror to The Prisoner and Doctor Who! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( GENRE TALK [Science Fiction vs. Fantasy: The Choice is Clear]( In the world of speculative fiction, there will always be those who insist on certain rules and standards for judging science fiction and fantasy, and enforcing the boundaries between the two…with an ingrained bias that’s pretty hard to ignore. James Davis Nicoll takes a *very* serious look at some of these essential, insurmountable differences… [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( WHAT'S YOUR DAEMON? [His Dark Materials Premiere Episode “Lyra’s Jordan” is a Strong Start to the Series]( HBO and BBC’s His Dark Materials, a television adaptation of the beloved fantasy series by Philip Pullman, began its highly anticipated first season this week. Tyler Dean will be recapping each episode for you as we follow the adventures of Lyra and her daemon Pan. What does Lord Asriel know about Dust? What is happening to all the missing children? And will the new series be able to do justice to Pullman’s novels? [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( LADY KNIGHTS, UNITE! [Eleven Moments From Tamora Pierce’s Tortall Series That Would Make Great TV]( With more than 20 books spanning more than 200 years, with the central protagonists growing from teenagers to almost middle age, adapting Tamora Pierce’s Tortall series will be a seriously epic undertaking. In the wake of last week’s exciting announcement that the series is coming to television, Natalie Zutter offers some suggestions for key moments from the well-loved series that we can’t wait to see on the small screen--share your own favorites in the comments! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( HOW LONG IS YOUR TBR? [Jo Walton’s Reading List: October 2019]( Author Jo Walton is back to share her extensive - and we mean extensive - reading list for the month of October. This month’s selections include favorites by Theodora Goss, Lois McMaster Bujold, Caroline Stevermer, and almost the entirety of Ada Palmer’s bibliography (including a sneak peek at her upcoming fourth novel), so check out the full list... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( TEAM ROACH [Learn More About the Major Characters and Cast in Netflix’s The Witcher]( The proof of great writing can often be felt when the reader steps into a new fictional world and finds that it feels fully realized and lived-in—plagues, monsters, and all. And Andrzej Sapkowski’s tales of The Witcher do just that. Here are the key characters that you’ll need to know before the highly anticipated Netflix adaptation premieres in December, along with some notes on the actors who’ll be bringing them to life. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( CONGRATULATIONS! [Announcing the 2019 World Fantasy Award Winners!]( We’re raising a big glass of bubbly to all of the 2019 World Fantasy Award Winners! The ceremony took place earlier this week in Los Angeles, and included Lifetime Achievement honors for Hayao Miyazaki and Jack Zipes. Congrats to all, especially our own publisher Irene Gallo, for editing Worlds Seen In Passing: 10 Years of Tor.com Short Fiction, the winner of the Best Anthology award! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“In Xanadu” by Lavie Tidhar]( Security through physicality. Security through redundancy. Security through obscurity. How do immortal artificial intelligences defend themselves? With an air gap. With a security force that has no connection to anything that can harm them. With a young woman, trained to fight and to die who, along with her cohort must keep them safe. But In Xanadu things don’t always go as planned… [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. FOLLOW US: [Follow Us on Facebook]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Follow Us on Tumblr]( [Follow Us on Pinterest]( This email was sent by: Macmillan 120 Broadway New York, NY, 10271, US We respect your right to privacy - [view our policy]( Macmillan believes piracy hurts writers, readers and everyone who loves books. Learn more and report suspicious activity [here.]( To subscribe to this or other email communications from Macmillan, please click [here](. Visit our [profile center]( to update your email address and/or other information. If you no longer wish to receive this email communication, click [here]( to unsubscribe.