Author Ryan Schneider's Blog

Reclamation by Sarah Zettel (PKD Finalist) is in The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle Set in the far future, RECLAMATION centers on The Realm of the Nameless Powers, a world so ravaged by age that only a portion of deep canyons is habitable. The Realm has degenerated into a harsh caste system and Middle Ages technology. Their religion strictly enforces the castes who can marry, and which children are allowed to live. Eric Born is a lapsed priest and a son of one of the noble families. Like all members of the priesthood, he possesses very precise telekinetic abilities, but he also has the rare gift of healing. Stifled by the backward ways of The Realm, he escapes to make a new life among the stars. Since then, he has established himself as a freelance computer engineer. He is employed by the Rhudolant Vitae, space traders who travel between star systems trading their technological and management skills for raw materials and political influence. The Vitae...

Knight Moves by Walter Jon Williams is in The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle! A Philip K Dick Award-nominated novel. Eight hundred years ago Doran Falkner gave humanity the stars, and he now lives with his regrets on a depopulated Earth among tumbledown ruins and ancient dreams brought to life by modern technology. But word now comes that alien life has been discovered on a distant world, life so strange and impossible that the revelation of its secrets could change everything. A disillusioned knight on the chessboard of the gods, Doran must confront his own lost promise, his lost love, and his lost humanity, to make the move that will revive the fortunes both of humans and aliens . . . “ Knight Moves is an engrossing and evocative read, a tale of immortality and love and death rendered in a style that reminds me more than a little of the early Roger Zelazny. Williams’ people are intriguing and sympathetic, and his portrait of an Earth left transf...

Maximum Ice by Kay Kenyon (PKD Finalist) is in The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle! They thought Earth would always abide. But it hadn't, not at all . . . . Zoya Kundara has lived on the space vessel Star Road for 250 years. As Ship Mother, she is awakened from Deep Sleep in times of crisis, providing counsel to generations of its Romany crew. Now the starship has returned home, only to discover an Earth on the verge of extinction, blanketed in a crystalline substance called Ice. But it's not ice. This pearl-white mantle is a grand and mysterious ecology of information-bearing crystals. And it is relentlessly enclosing the last free lands. To find a home for her crew, Zoya must approach the denizens of this strange new Earth. She will discover the Ice Nuns, who seek sole control of the physics-defying crystals; people huddled like moles in underground techno-warrens; and the snow witches, creatures of Ice, both mad and prophetic . . . and one snow w...

Authors and Books with Recognition and Multiple Awards are in The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle! by Lisa Mason  It should come as no surprise that the authors participating in The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle and their books have received recognition and awards in addition to the Philip K Dick Award . Elizabeth Hand has received the Nebula , World Fantasy , Mythopeoic , Tiptree , and International Horror Guild Awards , and her novels have been chosen as New York Times and Washington Post Notable Books . She’s been a Philip K Dick Award Finalist three times. Gwyneth Jones has won two World Fantasy awards , the Children of the Night award , the BSFA award and the Pilgrim award for Science Fiction criticism . Novels of Lisa Mason have been chosen as a New York Times Notable Book , a New York Public Library Recommended Book , and a San Francisco Chronicle Recommended Book . Kay Kenyon has been a finalist for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award...

How I Chose the Books for The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle! by Lisa Mason As a 2016 PKD Award judge , I had access to the master list of Finalists and Winners going back to 1983, when the award was inaugurated. When Storybundle agreed  to do a Philip K Dick Award Storybundle comprised of Finalists and Winners , I researched the authors on that list. I chose these authors and books because they meet the following criteria: 1. They weren’t dead (that’s a joke); 2. They have an ebook of their Philip K Dick Award Finalist or Winner ; 3. They and their publishers were technically able to participate in StoryBundle’s DRM-free environment. You would be surprised how many authors going back to 1983 couldn’t meet those simple criteria, including the first. I’m delighted and thankful for this list. I’ve read all of the authors’ works, often first as magazine stories, and met several at conventions and parties. I truly encourage you to...

How I Became the Curator of The Philip K Dick Award Storybundle by Lisa Mason A writer-acquaintance who was acting as the Curator of a Storybundle earlier this year invited me to participate in his bundle. I gladly did, having heard about Storybundle.com and all the good things the website does for readers and authors alike. I love the Storybundle website, how they’ve set things up and their commitment to all things writing. Storybundle is a major player in the new independent publishing revolution and works well with readers’ passion for ebooks. After the first bundle was done, and performed well, I began communicating with Storybundle, letting them know that I have an ebook backlist of previously published books and stories and that I’d been asked to serve as a judge for the 2016 The Philip K Dick Award. Storybundle, ever alert for new bundle opportunities, was curious about my role as a judge. We’re slowly working out the details of how I may curate...